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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Ben Lien (DFL)

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Rep. Ben Lien - Legislative Report - April 28, 2014

Monday, April 28, 2014

Greetings from the House Floor,

It was good to get back to the Legislature last week after our Easter/Passover break. We took up several bills on the floor while Conference Committees continued to meet to work out differences between House and Senate bills. The major bills in Conference Committee are the second Omnibus Tax bill, the Supplemental Budget bill and the Women’s Economic Security Act. The following bills were heard and passed on the House floor:

  • HFs 2834, 2213, 2660, 2479, 2392, 1981, 3084, 2668, 2605, 892, 2694, 2854, 1425, 2236, 2853, 2293, 3073, 2695, 2785, 2166, 1961, 2531, 3115, 2365 and 2830
  • SFs 2076, 685, 1725, 663, 2310 and 1732

The more notable bills passed last week were HFs 2392, 2293, 1961 and 2830. HF 2392 changes existing statute for cleaner fuel-powered vehicles purchased by state agencies. The changes eliminate a previous requirement that the cleaner-powered vehicle be available at a similar cost to other vehicles and add a requirement that the cleaner-powered vehicle be purchased if the total cost of vehicle ownership (throughout its course of use) is less than that of other vehicles. HF 2293 puts new regulations around payday lending. Payday lending is a form of short-term borrowing of cash. The bill limits the number of payday loans to any one individual to four per year, puts tighter underwriting mandates on payday lenders and closes loopholes that allow payday lenders to operate outside the guidelines of other short-term loan regulations. In my professional experience with a non-profit financial counseling agency, I have seen firsthand the road of long-term revolving debt people go down when they take out payday loans. This is an issue of consumer protection that is important to me, and I was glad to sign onto the bill. For a clip of my speech on the House floor regarding this bill, click here:  http://youtu.be/2R9eDys1oWo

HF 1961 focuses on several areas of campaign and public official finance disclosure. It mandates and strengthens audits by the Campaign Finance Board of campaigns, extends public disclosure of financial interest to public official’s spouses and requires more detail of public officials’ disclosure of economic interests. HF 2830 has implications for our area as it allows Becker County to combine the positions of County Auditor-Treasurer and Recorder and allows these positions to become appointed, rather than elected, by a vote of 80 percent of the County Commission. Voters can also change these positions back to elected through a referendum. I introduced legislation last year to make the same changes for Clay County. All across the state, current county auditor-treasurers and recorders see the need to fill these positions through an appointed process as they become more technical in nature and counties become larger. This will help to ensure that counties are able to hire folks with the proper professional training and qualifications.

 

Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,

Ben