Ewald at the Capitol

Some New Laws

July 1 is an important date for new laws. If a bill contains an appropriation, its effective date is July 1. All other bills that do not name a specific start date become effective August 1. Some of the newest Minnesota laws are:

HF2360: $110,000 in payouts for claims against the state. This is an annual practice by the Legislature. The joint House and Senate Claims Subcommittee is tasked with determining which claims against the state should be funded.
SF1712: Portions of the Pensions and Retirement omnibus bill.
SF440: Modifications in statute for tax-forfeited land sales.

Laws that went into effect during the legislative session include:

HF729: $7.8 million to law enforcement agencies for expenses related to civil unrest response, including maintaining civil order.
SF958: A person who is certified under the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board can treat police dogs wounded in the line of duty.
SF227: Various measures for energy conservation including increasing the state’s annual energy savings goal from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent and increasing the annual energy savings goal for public utilities providing electric service from 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.

Frontline Worker Pay

$250 million in American Rescue Plan aid will be divvied up and paid out to Minnesota’s frontline workers in bonuses. During the pandemic, the term “frontline worker” was broad. Frontline workers included grocery store workers, delivery drivers, childcare employees, health care workers and many in between.

A legislative panel will have the potentially quite heated task of deciding who gets bonuses and in what amount. Panel members who have been determined so far are House Majority Leader Ryan Winker, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Sen. Erin Murphy, Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer and Sen. Karin Housley. Three members have yet to be appointed.

The only predetermined rule going into negotiations surrounding the pot of money is that long-term care workers must be included. Based on COVID-19 vaccine priority groupings during the initial rollout, about 924,000 Minnesotans are considered “essential workers.”

The panel has until Sept. 6 to decide who will receive bonuses.