ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Legislature was host this week to conversations on key issues including child care, housing and election integrity.
House bills to heighten child care safety measures advance
Several committees this week heard a set of bills, introduced by Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, that target safety at child care centers. West said the bills are in response to his family’s experience at Small World Learning Center, a that came under police investigation in July of 2024. Two of the day care's employees were charged with malicious punishment of a child and assault for allegedly abusing multiple children, including West's daughter.
ADVERTISEMENT
The package includes four bills: which aims to increase mandatory minimum penalties for malicious punishment of a child under 4; which would require child care centers to have more cameras and to retain the footage for 60 days; which mandates more education to parents of infants on recognizing signs of abuse; and which would enhance background checks for prospective workers in child care centers.
“As awful as my family's situation was, I am lucky,” West said in a press release. “As a legislator, I can do something about what happened to my daughter, and give parents of other abused children a voice here in the legislature.”
All four bills have received one or more hearings in the House but have not made it to the floor.
Financial support for housing
House Democrats pushed funding for housing projects in multiple committees throughout the week. , authored by Rep. Michael Howard, DFL-Richfield, asks for $400 million in housing infrastructure bonds, and , authored by Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, asks for $10 million in loans to local governments for affordable housing.
“400 million … That's a big number,” said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia. “That's, I would say, aspirational, and certainly it's a serious issue, but it's a very large number that I'm struggling to wrap my arms around.”
Howard said he believes approving the funding will save the state money in the long run by investing now rather than waiting for "our housing shortage to multiply upon itself.”
“I understand that we are in a very tough budget situation, but as I said earlier, I think it behooves us to look at where do we get the most impact for our investment,” Agbaje said in Tuesday’s committee.
ADVERTISEMENT
Both bills were laid over in the Housing Finance Policy Committee on Tuesday for possible inclusion in a larger bill.
Earlier this month, lawmakers introduced a set of bipartisan housing bills dubbed the “Yes to Homes” package. These bills center around policy and zoning reform rather than funding allocations.
Rep. Specer Igo, R-Wabana Township, authored the “Minnesota Starter Home Act” included in the “Yes to Homes” bills. Igo said in Tuesday’s committee that he’s also hesitant about the $400 million proposal.
“At a time where we have a $6 billion deficit, this kind of debt request would be for 7% of our deficit, which is just hard at a time where we need to tighten the belt to justify doing that,” Igo said. “That’s why I’m glad that we’re working on proposals like ‘Yes to Homes,’ initiatives that do have a zero fiscal note.”
The “Yes to Homes” bills have yet to make it to the floor of either chamber.
Election-related bribery law
The Senate Elections Committee on Tuesday advanced a bill to enhance existing election-related bribery law in Minnesota.
ADVERTISEMENT
Election bribery is illegal in Minnesota, currently a felony, but , authored by Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, would restrict additional forms of bribery. Under the bill, it would be illegal to use bribery in an attempt to persuade an individual to register to vote or to attempt to influence a voter to sign a petition directly related to an election.
Minnesota law describes bribery as lending or gifting money or other items of value, as well as offering promises of monetary gain, employment or other valuable. SF1812 would include people who “provide a chance to win” as committing bribery.
Westlin said in committee on Tuesday that the bill stems from the current Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, where “America PAC,” a group founded and funded by Elon Musk, is offering voters $100 to sign a petition opposing “activist judges,” according to
“We cannot allow billionaires and dark money super PACs to bribe Minnesotans with money or prizes into voting or not voting a certain way,” Westlin said. “The very foundation of this democracy relies on one person, one vote.”
The bill passed out of the Elections Committee 7-4 and moves to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.
Bills in motion this week
House
: Adding children’s advocacy centers to the list of “victim assistance programs.” The House unanimously passed this bill on the floor Thursday. The bill now heads to the Senate.
ADVERTISEMENT
: Allocating one-time funds for teacher Read Act training. This bill was laid over on Thursday for possible inclusion in a larger bill.
: Gov. Tim Walz’s fraud prevention package, including funding for the Attorney General’s office and enhanced penalties for those convicted of fraud. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a larger bill.
: Adding peer-to-peer counseling as covered under the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program. The House unanimously passed this bill on the floor Thursday and heads to the Senate.
: Prohibiting certain sex offenders from accessing social media platforms. This bill was introduced on Monday and referred to the Committee on Public Safety, Finance and Policy.
Senate
: Modifying the child-to-adult capacity ratios and age distribution restrictions for group family day cares. The bill was introduced on Thursday and referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.
: Establishing higher education benefits for children of disabled veterans. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.
ADVERTISEMENT
: Prohibiting geolocation and smartphone monitoring in certain circumstances. This bill was introduced on Thursday and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.
: Allowing the cost of earned sick and safe time benefits to be included in the prevailing wage calculation under certain conditions. This bill was introduced on Thursday and was referred to the Committee on Labor.
The Trust Project
