Greetings from the House Floor,
Governor Dayton delivered his State of the State address to the Legislature and Minnesota on Wednesday evening last week. In the speech, he recapped what the Legislature has accomplished over the last year and a half; summarized the “unsession” work the Legislature has done; urged legislative action on a $1.2 billion Capital Investment (Bonding) bill and set out a couple of future priorities for the Legislature to address.
Some of those priorities include early childhood education, improvements to make testing more effective for students, and additional economic development programs for the state such as public-private partnerships.
On Thursday evening of last week, I had the privilege of appearing on a Pioneer Public Television program called “Your Legislators.” The program is a live round table conversation with four legislators answering viewer questions. Also appearing with me was Rep. Paul Torkelson, Sen. Tom Saxhaug and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen. To watch the program, follow this link: http://www.pioneer.org/your-legislators.html.
Bills passed off the House floor last week include the following:
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HFs: 2755, 2925, 2687, 2722, 2728, 1916, 2654, 1851, 1984, 2798, 2214, 2405, 2912, 3043, 3238, 2566, 2724, 3241, 2622, 2670, 2995, 2386, 2949 and 263
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SFs: 2571, 2245, 1689, 1246, 2736, 2390, 2066, 2047, 2608, 2312, 2103, 874, 2466 and 2718
The more notable bills were HFs 2722, 1984 and 3238 and SFs 1246 and 2466.
HF 2722 modifies the process for determining custody and parenting time decisions and is the result of a mediation process agreement reached between citizens, family law professionals and other interested parties (such as child welfare advocates) after Governor Dayton vetoed Joint Physical Custody legislation in 2012. The bill focuses on joint physical custody, parenting time and allows consideration of a child’s changing developmental needs when determining modifications to a custody order.
HF 1984 clarifies what is considered to be a responsible bidder for public contracts. Under the bill, any contractor bidding for a project over $50,000 must meet the following criteria: comply with worker’s compensation and Unemployment Insurance requirements; register with the Departments of Employment and Economic Development and Revenue; have no violations of any law regarding independent contractors or construction codes; have no current tax liens or delinquencies and are not debarred by the federal government, state or a municipality (with many of the requirements in the bill going back three years).
HF 3238 prohibits an individual subject to a civil order for protection or convicted of a domestic abuse crime from possessing a firearm. Under these circumstances, firearms must be surrendered to a federally licensed firearms (FFL) dealer, law enforcement agency or third party who may lawfully receive them. For people subject to a civil order for protection, the prohibition would only happen with due process and folks would be eligible to receive their firearms back after the order for protection expires.
SF 1246 mandates that a driver stop and investigate when he or she knows or has a reason to know a collision has happened with a person or another car. If a driver does not feel the location of the collision is a safe place to stop, he or she must stop and call authorities as soon as it is safe to do so. SF 2466 requires law enforcement to establish probable cause and obtain a court order before the installation of a tracing or tracking device on a cell phone. Law enforcement must prove that information obtained by a cell phone is relevant to an ongoing investigation.
The Conference Committees on Taxes and the Supplemental Budget worked through the weekend as budget targets were released by the House and Senate late last week. The Senate also released its Capital Investment bill yesterday. This is certain to bring floor votes in the House and Senate on the Capital Investment bill soon.
With only two weeks left in the session, the hours we spend on the floor will become long and the final picture of these major bills is becoming more apparent.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben