2023 Legislative Session Adjournment Day
In recent years we have become accustomed to a massive flurry of last-minute legislative activity during the final weekend of a session, including a scramble on the last day to get budget work done. In most years we’ve seen the legislature stumble into June special sessions to finish budget bills ahead of the June 30 fiscal year deadline.
This year was different and a ‘global agreement’ on budget targets set on March 21 certainly helped bring the budget debate to a close. About two weeks ago we saw the first slate of budget bills start to wrap up. A week ago, the Education deal was announced. Last week and over the weekend, the remaining budget bills made their way to closure. On this last day of session, the Health & Human Services bill is the last one to process through the House and Senate floors. At or before midnight the 2023 “DFL Trifecta” legislative session will close.
The legislature will reconvene this regular session on February 12, 2024.
Education Bill Presented to the Governor
The Education bill passed the House and Senate early last week. As of this morning, the Education bill has yet to be formally presented to the Governor. Once that occurs the Governor has a set amount of time to consider the bill, sign it into law, veto it, or sign it into law with some line-item vetoes of appropriations. We expect the Governor to sign the Education bill into law, fully intact.
TRA Boost in Tax Bill
Last week, we saw a late development on TRA as the Tax bill took on a $97 million commitment in future years. The appropriation will bring the full TRA retirement age down from 66 to 65. It will cost employees an additional .25% on payroll and employers .75%.
Session Resources
- Bill Search, Status, and MyBills – Minnesota State Legislature (mn.gov)
- MREA members are encouraged to join Advocacy Briefings to hear directly from our Advocacy team, who is at the Capitol every day advocating for Greater Minnesota education. Check your Insider Brief for the invite.
