D.

Scott Dibble
State Senator

2107 Minnesota Senate Building

St. Paul, MN 55155

651-296-4191

2016 END OF SESSION REPORT

Rep. Frank Hornstein
Rep. Paul Thissen and Sen. Scott Dibble

tinyurl.com/SenatorDibbleEmail
www.senate.mn/senatordibble

Frank Hornstein
State Representative

243 State Office Building

St. Paul, MN 55155

651-296-9281

rep.frank.hornstein@house.mn
www.house.mn/61A

Paul Thissen
State Representative

267 State Office Building

St. Paul, MN 55155

651-296-5375

rep.paul.thissen@house.mn
www.house.mn/61B

Transportation
Dear Neighbors,

The second half of the 2015-2016 Minnesota

Legislative Session has concluded. The twoyear budget was established in the first half of the session in 2015,
so it was unusual to enter this year with as large a surplus as we
hadover $800 million. Much of that was a carry-over from
last years surplus.
The surplus is the consequence of returning to a system of fairer
taxation based on ability to pay, more prudent budgeting, and
investments and the economic recovery. Going into the session,
widely agreed priorities included passing sensible tax reform
measures to support low and middle income families; much-needed,
long-delayed investments in aging roads and better transit; and
building up our states infrastructure (buildings, water / sewer
service, natural resource preservation, etc.) in the bonding bill.
Additional priorities included supporting small and minority
entrepreneurs, reducing college tuition and student debt, family
leave, early childhood education, compliance with the Federal
REAL ID Act; unemployment benefits for laid off mine workers,
and equity and justice for low income communities of color.
Many of these priorities were achieved in individual bills and in
the omnibus supplemental budget bill. As has become an all too
familiar end of session process, key tax and spending bills were
negotiated by legislative leaders behind closed doors with little or
no public discussion and voted on before most legislators had the
opportunity to review and comment on key provisions.
Unfortunately, House leaderships refusal to participate in the
long established process of conducting hearings in an open and
collaborative setting led to a tax bill crafted out of view and fraught
with such serious errors that the Governor was forced to veto it.
Likewise, the bonding bill was devised totally in secret. The House
only passed the bill in literally the final seconds of the session, and
refused to accept the changes made to it by the Senate as is the
Senates right, by adjourning before allowing any reconsideration.
We continue to have hope because every day we see how the work
and involvement of good people help make our state and democracy
even better! We are excited for the future. Please continue to call
and write with your views and ideas.
Sincerely,
D. Scott Dibble
Minnesota Senate

Paul Thissen Frank Hornstein

MN House of Representatives

MN House of Representatives

Under the leadership of Senator

Dibble as the Senate Transportation
Committee chair, the Senate
developed and passed a bill in
2015 that provided the most basic
components of the necessary
investments in our aging statewide
roadway and bike/pedestrian system
and totally inadequate transit
system: sufficient to do the job,
sustainable over the long term and
serves all Minnesotans. The House
Republicans countered with a small
bill, from limited sources that would
soon dry up, that would only serve
those who can own and drive cars.
The House transportation plan
focused almost exclusively on rural
road and bridge needs, cut transit
funds, and relied on budget shifts
and gimmicks. Lacking any actual
meaningful, good faith debate on
how best to serve the transportation
needs of people of Minnesota, no
the compromise, bi-partisan, bicameral bill ever got off the ground.
Greater railroad safety would have
been the result of a bill crafted by
Rep. Hornstein, with provisions
for greater public safety agency
training and communications,
disclosure in real time of hazardous
materials traveling on train routes,
and better emergency planning
and preparedness activities. The
House Republicans also blocked the
passage of this bill.
Rep. Hornstein and Sen. Dibble
submitted comments on the Final
Environmental Impact Statement
for the Southwest Light Rail project
regarding freight rail safety, which
can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/
HornsteinDibble-SWLRT-FEIS-ltr

Education
To reduce the teacher shortage, we passed grants for student teachers,
tuition loan forgiveness, incentives for teaching high demand subjects,
paraprofessional pathways to licensure.
Investments in high quality early childhood education include highquality, voluntary pre-K for Minnesota 4-year-olds, parent-child home
visiting programs Reading Corps, and assistance for those child care
providers who want to achieve a high quality rating (Parent Aware). An
additional 4,000 children will be served next year.
To improve our very low student to counselor ratio, grants will be made to
districts to hire more student support service professionals.
A work group will convene to find better approaches to student discipline
and provide for greater teacher safety.
Continuing education training for teachers will include student suicide
prevention.
Student testing will be more transparent with better information about
testing schedules, questions, results, and opt-out opportunities; more help
aimed at struggling students; and a reduction in the number of tests.
Streamlining will reduce the teachers and administrators time devoted to
writing and disseminating reports.

Health and Human Services

Higher Education

The Excellence in Mental Health Act will allow many more people to receive necessary
mental and chemical dependency care from community-based treatment centers before
they enter into a crisis.

Perhaps the biggest story

about higher education from
the legislature over the past
two years is how the House
Republican majority has
declared a virtual war on the
University of Minnesota, and
falsely pit our state college
and technical schools system
(MnSCU) against the U
of M through their budget
and policy proposals. The
Senate and House DFL stood
firm against this extremist
agenda.

More resources for young people struggling with exploitation and homelessness will
come through the Safe Harbor Law and the Homeless Youth Act.
Our state-operated mental health and treatment facilities will see increases in staffing and
other necessary improvements to increase safety, access and quality of care.
Recommendations for policies to allow installation of electronic monitoring, so called
Granny Cams will be developed in response to those families concerned about elder
abuse by staff in nursing homes.
Inflammatory bowel disease was added as a qualifying medical condition to allow
patients access to the medical cannabis registry.

Economic Development and Jobs

People of color, in particular African American people have been left out of Minnesotas
economic recovery, continuing to experience high levels of unemployment and the
resulting inability to gain access to housing, education, start businesses, and on. To
start turning that around, the Senate and Governor, alongside the community, proposed
devoting up to $100 million from the budget surplus to get a start on creating systemic
changes to remedy this unacceptable disparity. Unfortunately, the House Republicans
were not supportive, so the compromise resulted in achieving $35 million. The package
consists of investments in youth employment, development and assistance for
minority-owned businesses, competitive grants to promote education, economic selfsufficiency, and job development, community and career development initiatives,
grants to address economic
disparities in communities of
color, capacity building to assist
community based organizations
in carrying out this work, and
homeownership assistance.
Exploited women and children
will have more help getting back on
their feet with additional resources
devoted to rental assistance for
them.
High speed internet access will be
improved to the nearly 20% of rural
communities that currently lack
it (with an emphasis on serving
low income households), so they
can engage in business, learn,
communicate, access health care,
with additional resources going to
the Border-to-Border Broadband
Development Grant Program.

Encouraging more to
consider careers in public
service will be possible
through the Public Service
Loan Forgiveness Program
(PSLF) and student teacher
loans and teacher tuition
loan forgiveness programs.
Higher Ed students will more
easily be able to transfer
their MnSCU credits.
Child care grants will be
expanded to graduate
students so that parents
are better supported while
attaining their educational
and professional goals.
Should there be unused
resources in the State Grant
Program (higher education
grants for students) fund
balance, those funds may be
used for increased living and
miscellaneous expenses of
grant recipients.
Stronger protections for
human research subjects
and long-awaited changes
to the U of Ms Psychiatry
Department will be made to
address the aftermath of the
tragic Dan Markingson case.

Judiciary, Civil and Criminal Law

Penalties for felony assaults will now be able to be
increased by another 25% if it can be shown that
the attack was a hate crime based on race, sexual
orientation, sex or religion in a bill authored by Rep.
Hornstein.
Drug users more in need of treatment than punishment
will serve less or no time in prison, while higher level
drug dealers will face harsher penalties under drug
sentencing reform created in response to Minnesota
Sentencing Guidelines Commission recommendations.
A decrease in sending people back to prison is
anticipated from funds provided for greater case
planning, housing assistance, employment help, life
skills programming, and transportation assistance.
The successful Challenge Incarceration Program
designed to boost early and successful release from
prison will be bolstered by this years budget.
Greater prisoner access to mental health services will
received a long recognized increase.
Uniform regulations to use of body cams by police
were passed into law in an attempt to strike a balance
between transparency, accountability, citizen privacy
and sensitive investigations. Some think that more
needs to be done to find the right equilibrium.

Greater justice for victims and their families will be possible

with the passage of Lauras Law making it a felony to
conceal evidence at a crime scene or otherwise mislead a
medical examiner.
More resources have been provided for sex trafficking
investigation and penalties for engaging minors in
prostitution have been increased.

Legislative Reform

Consumer Protection

Representative Thissen launched a package of legislative reform measures that

would have required the legislature to: provide 24 hour public notice before
final votes; increase transparency for conference committees; stop passing bills
in dark of night; increase transparency and public participation in setting joint
budget targets no later than 14 days prior to adjournment; require that bill have
no more than one subject (except for major finance bills); limit omnibus budget
bills to budget related material; ban former legislators, judges and cabinetlevel executive branch members from becoming lobbyists in the next session
following their departure; subject the legislature to greater data disclosure; and
increase transparency related to per diem and other public expenditures.

A loophole that allowed tax debt

settlement scammers to operate in
Minnesota has been closed.
The Attorney General will now be
able to legally pursue patent trolls
who extort money from small startup businesses with bad faith legal
claims.

Environment
With the passage of Sophias Law, motorboats in Minnesota will
soon be required to install carbon monoxide detection devices to
help avoid needless tragedies.
Doubling the amount of electronics that are recycled rather than
landfilled statewide will result from improvements to the states
e-waste laws and programs.
The projects recommended by the Legislative-Citizen
Commission on Minnesota Resources (making use of lottery
resources) range widely--from protecting pollinators, to restoring
elk to Northeastern Minnesota, to addressing aquatic and terrestrial
invasive species, to restoring various kinds of habitat, to educating
about the environment and natural world, to acquiring land for
parks and trails, and more. A number of projects were inserted by
Republican House members. Several important initiatives aiding
efforts to respond to global warming were eliminated by the
Republican House. The Governor vetoed the extra projects that did
not come through the long established collaborative process.
The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council also recommended
a wide array of projects in the amount of just over $111 million
from constitutionally dedicated sales tax legacy funds for the
purpose of restoration, protection, and enhancement of wetlands,
prairies, forests, and habitat for fish, game, and wildlife, and that
prevent forest fragmentation, encourage forest consolidation, and
expand restored native prairie.

State and Local Government

Caregivers will be able to erect
temporary housing on their property
to shelter a family member who is
mentally or physically impaired,
so-called Granny Pods, pending
the zoning approval of local
governments.

transit hub on I-35W at Lake Street

to give greater access to those with
disabilities and those who need to
get to jobs. This project needs to be
coordinated with larger improvements
to I-35W bridges north of there. Other
projects that wont happen:

A greater focus on housing needs

for disabled veterans, as well as
veterans mental health service
collaborations will be the subject of
two intensive studies.

Renovations and preservation of

University of Minnesota and MnSCU
buildings, a Chemical Sciences and
Advanced Materials Building at
UMD, Winona State UniversityEducation Villages: $25.3 million,
flood hazard mitigation and state
trail development, local roads and
bridges and crude oil rail grade safety
separations, improvements to the
Minnesota Security Hospital, the
Dorothy Day center for homeless
people, the Duluth Superior Street
steam plant project, St. Paul Science
Museum of Minnesota expansion,
clean water and point source pollution
improvement grants.

19,000 Minnesotans will now be able

to subtract their military pension
income from their taxable income,
providing a benefit of $50 million to
those taxpayers.
The House refused to vote on final
passage of the bonding bill. As a
consequence, extremely important
building and infrastructure projects,
and the jobs they create, wont
happen or will be delayed a year or
more. We are especially concerned
about the delay in building the needed

The tax bill was also passed in a

rush, out of public view, by House
leadership. It was riddled with
so many errors that Governor
Dayton had to veto it. In it were
many important, progressive tax
initiatives including an expansion of
the working family tax credit, low
income area entrepreneurs tax credit,
a student loan repayment tax credit,
dependent care tax credit, military
service credit, college savings plan
incentives, making federal tax
conformity more permanent, taxpayer
assistance grants, more funding for
local government aid to keep property
taxes in check, new markets grants,
the angel investor tax credit, and the
stillborn tax credit
Rep. Hornstein once again
championed a bill to disallow
corporations from taking advantage
of foreign tax havens, thus avoiding
tax payment that supports the public
services that allow for their ability to
be successful in Minnesota.

Looking Ahead
We will have to renew our efforts in
the coming year to pass a number of
worthwhile ideas, including:
Comprehensive, adequate and
sustainable transportation
funding
Restrictions on wolf hunting
A new citizen tax credit

Police Reform
The tragedy of recent police shootings, many of them being black men,
has highlighted the enormous divide that persists in our country and
democracy. A package of police reform measures, designed to grow trust
on both sides, that includes greater accountability, transparency, training,
hiring as well as a strong independent investigations when tragedies occur,
was introduced by Senator Dibble. We will continue to work alongside
leadership from the community to craft solutions to these problems and
pursue the passage of strong policies to deliver justice long denied.

Grants for urban agriculture

initiatives
Policies to protect our dwindling
domestic and native pollinators
Regulations that curtail the abuses
of payday lenders
The Paid Family Leave Act so
workers can take the time they
need to tend to personal matters
without penalty.
Allowing 16 year olds to
pre-register to vote prior to
turning 18, cultivate better civic
participation
Allowing the restoration of
voting rights for past felons to
assist in their transition back to
their communities
Providing for the Primary
election in June to encourage
greater participation

Labeling personal moist wipes

as non-flushable to preserve our
sanitary sewer infrastructure.
Changing body gripping traps so
they kill fewer dogs.
The promotion of utility policies
and rates to encourage wider
purchase of electric vehicles.
Insurance coverage of autism
spectrum disorder.
A needed pay increase for home
care workers.
Passing the Compassionate Care
Act so people can control their
own end of life decisions.
Sufficient funding for our higher
ed systems so we can enact a
tuition freeze.

A number of regulations
governing the licensure and use of
drones by private individuals and
as surveillance tools by the police.
Increasing gun safety by
eliminating the gun show
loophole that allows individuals
to avoid background checks.
Helping locate lost senior citizens
with cognitive disorders via a
Silver Alert system.
Improving the effectiveness of the
Metropolitan Council with key
governance reforms.
Encouraging employers to
combat implicit bias via a tax
credit incenting nameless job
applications.

Elections

Equity
With the leadership of Rep. Thissen, a Racial Equity
Impact Assessment, that would analyze disparity impacts
of proposed legislation on racial ethnic minority people,
was introduced.

In the hopes that the congested and confusing

experience of 2016 will not be repeated, a
presidential primary apart from party precinct
caucuses has been established starting in 2020.

Agriculture
Research into developing a hemp
industry began this summer with
the first crops planted in decades in
Minnesota.

low-cost loans, and technical

support for new or better grocery
stores, mobile markets, and farmers
markets.

For those living far from grocery

stores, the Good Food Access
initiative will provide grants,

Pollinator and bird habitat, native

plant species, water and erosion
management will improve via the

establishment of a volunteer solar

energy site management initiative.
Incentives for planting perennial
cover crops to improve soil and
water quality in key watersheds will
commence in Minnesota.