St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, Governor Dayton signed HF 2214, a bill chief authored by state Representative Mary Sawatzky (DFL –Willmar) that deals with technical changes for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The bill passed both the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support.
The bill contains 11 “Unsession” provisions and more than two dozen technical changes, including:
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Changing how MNDOT calculates the amount of county-state-aid highway funds to disburse in the upcoming year
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Bringing agricultural vehicle regulations up-to-date with federal regulations
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Exempting farm vehicles not transporting hazardous materials from annual commercial motor vehicle inspections, pre-trip inspections and allowing them to be driven with a standard Class D driver’s license
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broadening an annual bridge inspection report filed by county engineers to include identification of bridge deficiencies;
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extending the expiration date of an advisory committee on non-motorized transportation to 2018 from this year;
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altering the state’s statute governing U-turns to permit vehicles to make a U-turn by temporarily using the shoulder of a road that has at least two lanes of traffic in the same direction as necessary for that vehicle’s configuration; and
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making changes to MnDOT rules regarding contractors, including allowing MnDOT to set a compliance deadline in contracts which, if missed, would allow the department to complete the work with another contractor when certain steps are met.
“We were serious about the ‘Unsession’ this year and I’m proud this bill is part of more than 1175 ‘Unsession’ provisions that have been signed into law,” said Rep. Sawatzky. “It’s important for us to periodically go through our laws and update regulations to make life easier for Minnesotans and businesses, and help our agencies better serve Minnesota taxpayers. These are important, albeit not flashy, provisions that will clean up some state regulations. I want to thank Governor Dayton and my legislative colleagues for all their work to get this done.”
Rep. Sawatzky encourages constituents to contact her with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas. Rep. Sawatzky can be reached by phone at 651-296-6206 or by email at rep.mary.sawatzky@house.mn. Constituents can also visit Rep. Sawatzky’s AreaVoices blog, legislative page and sign up for email updates.