St. Paul, Minnesota — Today the House passed the conference committee report on 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 with broad bipartisan support, on a 111-19 vote. As the chief author, Rep. Sawatzky was also the lead conferee in the conference committee.
The bill contains 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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broaden an annual bridge inspection report filed by county engineers to include identification of bridge deficiencies;
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extend the expiration date of an advisory committee on non-motorized transportation to 2018 from this year;
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alter 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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make 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.
“These are important, albeit not flashy, provisions that will clean up some state regulations,” said Rep. Sawatzky. “In the spirit of the ‘Unsession’ 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. I’m very pleased this bill passed with strong bipartisan support and will soon be on its way to Governor Dayton to be signed into law.”
Once the Senate passes the conference committee report, the bill will head to Governor Dayton to be signed into law.
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.