Elias Thomas

The price of driving electric vehicles in Minnesota may well increase as lawmakers look to wrap up work on a transportation funding plan. 

The House transportation budget bill raises a yearly surcharge paid by electric vehicle owners from $75 to $200. When the House debated and passed the bill on April 28, Democrats proposed an amendment to limit the increase to $100, but it failed on a 67-67 vote. 

The overall bill passed with bipartisan support 85-49. The Senate transportation budget bill includes an identical increase.

A state-funded program that helps people get down payments to become the first in their families to buy homes will become permanent if the Legislature passes the House omnibus housing budget bill. 

The program, established in 2023, helped 600 families become homeowners in the first seven months of its existence, according to Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis. Of those 600 families, 90% were from underrepresented communities, Agbaje said.

One provision of the larger budget bill would make the program permanent and change the maximum loan amount from $32,000 to 10% of the home price. Agbaje said the change would allow more homes to be accessible to more people as home prices are high in Minnesota.

After compromises and emotional discussions, the House Transportation Committee approved an omnibus budget bill, despite some committee members from both political parties expressing dissatisfaction with the contents.

The bill contains nearly $10 billion in spending over the next two fiscal years for roads, bridges, transit and airports. It also contains a host of policy measures, but some of the sharpest debate came over provisions that didn’t make it into the massive bill. 

As Minnesota gets closer to issuing the first licenses to sellers of legal marijuana, the Legislature is working on law changes to further develop the growing cannabis economy in Minnesota.

Lawmakers are working on an omnibus bill designed to help streamline licensing and make changes to rules on already available products which contain THC, the active ingredient of marijuana. Specifically, language in the bill would help THC beverage companies expand their businesses and make Minnesota a more desirable market for new THC-beverage businesses. 

Supporters of proposed legislation that would prohibit future sales of dogs and cats at pet stores say it would ensure that animals are treated well and protect consumers while not harming current store owners. 

The bill, which was heard by the House commerce committee on Tuesday, April 1, has a grandfather clause that would allow any pet stores that currently sell cats and dogs to continue, but would prevent any more shops from doing it in the future. It would also require more transparency on where the animals are coming from to make sure they are ethically sourced. The bill aims to combat the inhumane practices of puppy mills and backyard breeders. 

A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers is trying to ease the state’s housing crunch by making more homes available to people looking for a first home, but some local officials are concerned the approach will bypass the concerns of their communities. 

The lawmakers are pitching legislation they call the Minnesota Starter Home Act, which aims to remove restrictions to make building affordable starter homes easier and faster. The bill would allow smaller single family homes, duplexes or townhouses to be built in areas where they are currently restricted by zoning laws.

Some state lawmakers are looking to spend nearly $8 million over the next two years to help provide clean drinking water to people in southeastern Minnesota whose wells have high concentrations of nitrate, which generally leaches into groundwater from fertilizer and manure. 

A proposed bill would provide the Minnesota Department of Agriculture $3.8 million in both 2026 and 2027 to be put towards treating water and repairing wells that test high in nitrate contamination. 

Republicans in the Minnesota House have introduced a bill that would give school districts broad flexibility in how they spend money and allow them to opt out of recent mandates from the state. 

The bill is aimed at providing relief for school districts facing financial hardship. It would apply to mandates adopted in the 2023-2024 session and extend through the 2028-2029 school year. 

Some Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota House are working to reduce the cost of fishing licenses for Minnesotans aged 65 and older. 

Two bills were discussed at a recent committee meeting to start the conversation on making a change. 

Republicans in the Minnesota House want to pause any work on a $3.2 billion proposed extension of the Blue Line light rail transit line north of Minneapolis until work is completed on the much delayed and over-budget Southwest line. 

A bill proposed by Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, would pause any work on the blue line extension, also known as the Bottineau line, until the Southwest line  is complete, which is now expected to be in 2027.