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

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Legislative Update - February 3, 2017

Friday, February 3, 2017

Greetings from the Floor,

We passed three bills off the House floor this week.  They were HFs 244, 13 and 46.  HF 244 provides a one-time waiver for certain cities and townships conducting local board of appeal and equalization meetings in 2017.  Current law mandates that each of these boards have a voting member who has completed a Department of Revenue training course within the last four years.  Because some jurisdictions didn’t know training wasn’t provided February 1 through July 1 of 2016, they were inadvertently out of compliance.  This bill reinstates their authority going back, and maintains the requirement going forward.  HF 13 makes technical changes to the Minnesota Nonprofit Corporation Act (allows for electronic voting by boards, allows a nonprofit to have a subsidiary and enables nonprofits from other states to move to Minnesota). HF 46 clarifies statutes around and streamlines the system for recording and registering land titles. 

On Wednesday, I had a hearing on HF 490 in the Subcommittee on Aging and Long Term Care.  The bill would provide long-term stability for rate reimbursements to nonprofit nursing homes in Moorhead.  State law passed in 2014 grants the same reimbursement policy to nonprofit nursing homes in Breckenridge.  The issue is that North Dakota has higher nursing home reimbursement rates, and is better able to compete for workers than facilities in Minnesota.  Coupled with the ups and downs of the North Dakota oil economy, this bill would provide long-term assurance for facilities in the two border communities along the Red River.  The bill was passed by the subcommittee and is on its way to the Health and Human Services Reform Committee. 

On Thursday the Agriculture Finance Committee toured the Department of Agriculture’s labs.  The lab space is shared by the Department of Health, although the two departments have separate equipment.  Some of the lab work done by the Department of Agriculture is around insect testing on crops and consumer products, food testing, feed testing, water quality testing (at the request of the Department of Natural Resources), agricultural product testing (for products like pesticides) and animal disease testing.  It was a fascinating tour and was part of the committee’s work to better understand the department’s budget request. 

Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,

Ben