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On Monday, May 20, House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate President Bobby Joe Champion adjourned the 93rd Legislative session. Like other sessions, this one was full of ups and downs. Despite some believing this session would be easy, it was anything but: from the burglary charges against Senator Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) to the tense debates surrounding bills like the Equal Rights Amendment or the sports betting bill, and to the challenges in both the House and Senate during the final moments of floor session when the DFL majority used a procedural motion to end debate to pass their last two bills. This procedural motion, called “moving the previous questions,” led to raucous uproar from the Republican minority in both bodies but allowed the DFL majority to pass a final tax and budget bill. They also attempted to pass a bonding bill, but that bill missed the midnight deadline for passage by one minute in the Senate.
Overall, the legislature passed several bills this session, along with a supplemental budget. However, some high-profile bills did not make the cut.
Bills that passed this session include, but are not limited to:
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EMS office creation and funds – $24 million in emergency aid will go to Minnesota’s Emergency Medical Services in greater Minnesota and $6 million for a pilot program aimed at improving EMS delivery in Northeastern parts of the state. The Office of Emergency Medical Services will also be established to oversee Minnesota’s EMS network.
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Uber/Lyft – Perhaps one of the most-covered issues in Minnesota media in recent months, negotiations with the namesake rideshare apps caused a stir. A very late deal made on the evening of May 18 between Gov. Tim Walz, DFL legislative leaders, Minneapolis city leaders and the two rideshare companies was reached. The deal would pay drivers $1.28 per mile and 31 cents per minute — a rate that would increase current pay by 20%.
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School resource officers – The bill to clarify what tools school resource officers have while working in schools passed early in session.
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Cannabis provision modifications – Modifications to previous laws regarding “crossfading,” licensure and home growing for medicinal cannabis.
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“Mommy” social media account profit ban – This law would ban making money off social media accounts that feature children, making Minnesota the first state to do so. For videos with older children, profits from videos would need to be set aside for those children until they reach age 18.
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Ticket fees – Sharing the same bill number as the hit Taylor Swift album “1989,” Gov. Walz earlier this month signed into law a measure that requires ticket sellers to list the full ticket price, including fees, upfront on their websites (aptly named the “Taylor Swift bill”).
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Voting Rights Act – In response to certain protections in the federal Voting Rights Act being reduced by court decisions, the provisions in this state act add protections against voter suppression and dilution of minority voters.
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Food Security – The legislature passed an additional $5 million to address the growing use of food shelves and food banks by Minnesotans.
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Paid Family and Medical Leave – The legislature passed additional revisions to the PFML program passed last session. The changes will increase the payroll tax rate from 0.7% passed last session to 0.88% in 2026 and to at least 0.93% by 2029 to sustain the program.
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Minnesota Advisory Council on Infrastructure (MACI) Established – The legislature established the Minnesota Advisory Council on Infrastructure (MACI), which was recommended by the advisory council on infrastructure and patterned after the Michigan Infrastructure Council. The council is expected to assist in infrastructure project coordination across infrastructure sectors and long-term planning using asset management and other tools.
On the flip side, some bills that did not pass for various reasons included:
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Bonding – Even-numbered years of the legislative session have traditionally been dedicated to passing a capital investment (bonding) bill to fund Minnesota’s infrastructure needs. This year, the legislature failed to pass a bonding bill to fund infrastructure needs. This means that millions of dollars in infrastructure needs for the Public Facilities Authority (PFA) to fund the State Matching Grant to State Revolving Loan Programs, Water Infrastructure Fund (WIF), road construction, and other infrastructure projects will go unfunded. A last-minute $70 million cash bonding bill was hastily passed by the House during the last-minute chaos of session, but the vote in the Senate was not completed before the midnight deadline.
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Equal Rights Amendment – The bill would have put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that, if supported by more than 50% of the voters, would have prohibited discrimination based on gender, sex or sexual identity. Both the Senate and the House passed different versions of the ERA, but ran out of time to find agreement.
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Ranked choice voting – The bill to allow local units of government the option to use ranked choice voting for local elections was brought to the House floor but did not get the required 68 votes, with the total being 66–62.
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Sports betting – One of the bills that many Minnesotans hoped would pass did not. Despite a deal being worked out on Sunday, it was too late to finalize the agreement and pass it.
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Full-time legislature: The proposed constitutional amendment to expand the time the legislature meets passed a few committees but did not advance to a final vote.
If you’d like to view these or other bills that went to the governor’s desk for approval, you can follow the Legislation Tracker / Office of Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (mn.gov)
The legislature also passed an overall supplemental budget package that appropriates over $500 million for key areas of the state budget — including education, health and human services, housing, taxes, and transportation. Key components of the supplemental budget passed include:
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Modifications to childcare tax credits.
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Property tax forfeiture law policy changes, which are a remedy for the Tyler v. Hennepin County Supreme Court decision.
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Funding for roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure needs.
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Funding to support literacy instruction, increase student attendance and support those entering the teaching profession.
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Expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and summer school nutrition programs.
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Expansion of various health occupation licensing to allow for practice across state lines which increases access to various health services.
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Additional funding for homeless prevention housing programs.
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Additional funding for programs and services to support adult and children’s mental health needs and to address substance use disorders.
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Expansion of caregiver grant programs and services for Minnesotans with disabilities, and the establishment of a Human Services Response Contingency Account.
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Election season is soon upon us, and candidates have begun filing for office. Most offices, including those at the Federal, State, and County level, are open for filing from May 21 to June 4. Offices in cities or school districts that do not have primaries will begin their filing periods on July 30 and end on August 13.
Those looking to file must submit an Affidavit of Candidacy and submit a filing fee to the appropriate filing officer. To find information or see who has filed for Candidacy, you can visit: Candidate Filings (mn.gov)
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