Minnesota Report
To date, there have been 24 bills presented to Governor Tim Walz (DFL-MN) and all have been signed into law. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/current/ The question remains whether or not any proposed Constitutional Amendments will be on the November ballot. It is worth noting last legislative session the only legislation vetoed by the governor was the Uber/Lyft ride share bill, which is still a bone of contention at the State Capitol this session. The threat of a pullout by Uber/Lyft on June 1st, is still a dark cloud hanging over the debate and the every proposed modification seems not to eliminate the warning.
There are two camps formed which are the Call Your Bluff Caucus and the Please Don’t Leave Caucus. Those lacking a vehicle, especially physically challenged people without wheelchairs are those being played with as pawns, and developing some semblance of sympathy. The footprint of Uber, is the overarching 300 lb. gorilla and the question following their departure would be how long will it take to fill the void?
With exactly one week left in the session, the refinement of the Cannabis Law, Uber/Lyft, and the most important matter, a Bonding Bill are the major issues at hand. We also expect he gulf between the House and Senate Tax chairs is quite wide and will not like result in a Tax Bill, which because this is a second half of the biennial session and is a bonding year and the laws are in place it is not necessary pass any legislative funding issues.
We believe in spite of there being a House floor vote on the Ranked Choice Voting opportunity on local elections across the state without the need for city council action or a local referendum. HF3276 will not pass the Senate and it might not even get a floor vote in the upper chamber. We know this is not a favorable issue for Senate Republicans, but we also know of at least three DFL Senators, with whom, we have personally spoken and will oppose the bill.