Session 2020: Fate of lawyerly legislation

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A number of bills with lawyerly interest have been signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, while others wait on his desk for their turn under his pen.

Other bills were not so lucky.

Here’s is quick rundown of the fate of some of the bills we kept an eye on in 2020.

Signed into law

Senate File 3357 (Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, chief author). Gov. Tim Walz signed the civil law omnibus bill on May 16. It modernizes Minnesota’s guardianship law, updates the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, amends homeowner association voting procedures and changes the statutory formula for wage garnishments.

Senate File 3072 (Limmer): The data practices omnibus is the first bill to successfully regulate police use of drone aircraft in Minnesota. It also requires warrants for law enforcement searches through old emails and hands authority over publishing precedential state Court of Appeals opinions back to the courts. Walz signed it on May 16.

House File 4137 (Rep. Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul). Nudged by recent court rulings that render portions of the state’s stalking and harassment laws invalid, this bill adopts federal standards that require evidence of intent before harassment crimes are prosecuted. Walz signed it on May 16.

House File 627 (Pinto): The bill requires the Minnesota Peace Officers Standards and Training Board to create a model policy for eyewitness identification. Once that’s complete, agencies throughout the state must adopt new policies. Among other things, the bill requires use of double blind or blinded administration for photo lineups, to prevent conscious or unconscious coaching of witnesses. Walz signed it on May 16.

House File 745 (Rep. Kaohly Her, DFL-St. Paul): It prohibits child marriages in Minnesota below the age of 18. The governor signed it on May 12.

House File 4285 (Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin): The omnibus agriculture bill includes a lawyerly provision that immunizes veterinarians from liability for good-faith reports of animal cruelty. It also revises current hemp-processing laws. The governor signed it on May 16.

House File 4599 (Rep. Todd Lippert, DFL-Northfield): The bill creates a temporary COVID-19 emergency provision in the state’s Farmer-Lender Mediation Act, giving farmers and lenders more time to prevent foreclosures. It extends the mediation period up to 150 days, or until Dec. 1, whichever is later. The governor signed it on May 18.

House File 331 (Rep. Heather Edelson, DFL-Edina): Bans the sale of tobacco, vaping equipment and other nicotine products to Minnesotans under age 21. Walz signed the bill on May 16.

Senate File 2466 (Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Marys Point): It expands state authority under the 2018 Safe Seniors Financial Protection Act to better protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. Walz signed it on May 16.

Senate File 4073 (Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake): The bill bans the use of trichloroethylene (TCE), with narrow exemptions, by June 1, 2022. The state fined the company Water Gremlin $7 million for releasing excess amounts of the industrial chemical into the air last year. The bill also allows small businesses to apply for an extra year to comply and to seek $25,000 in no-interest loans to transition away from TCE. Walz signed it on May 16.

House File 3429 (Rep. Mike Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park): Nelson’s bill creates special procedures for safe conduct of the 2020 elections, including provisions for increased absentee voting, new polling locations and public education on social distancing at the polling place. The governor signed it on May 12.

Still waiting

Some bills were still sitting on the governor’s desk at press time. Here are two with potential lawyerly interest.

Senate File 3258 (Limmer): A mini-omnibus public safety bill, which bans use of drone aircraft over prisons and suspends the state’s matching-fund requirement for youth intervention program grants awarded by the Office of Justice Programs. It also redefines state conservation officers, unconditionally, as peace officers. It was presented to the governor on May 18 but was not yet signed at deadline.

House File 462 (Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis): Among its provisions, the omnibus transportation policy bill gives Minnesotans whose driver’s licenses are set to expire during the peacetime emergency a little extra time to renew.

Not happening (yet)

Some of the bills we watched over the 2020 session simply died on the vine—though who knows what the June 12 special session might bring?

A few are well-known, if not notorious: Both the House and Senate failed to pass a bonding bill, while another $100 million in housing infrastructure bonds also failed to materialize. Likewise, the omnibus human services policy bill, Senate File 3322 from Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, died waiting for its turn to be heard on the House floor.

As Minnesota Lawyer reported Thursday, House File 3156 (Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul) likewise failed to achieve lift-off. But Mariani says his $22 million bill, which includes a provision to beef up Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell’s release authority to help nonviolent prisoners avoid COVID-19, is very much alive for the coming special session.

Here a few more examples of bills that didn’t quite clear all their hurdles:

Senate File 3866 (Limmer): This was the GOP’s moderate response to DFL gun-safety legislation that has languished over several consecutive sessions. The Limmer mini-omnibus did things like clarify what a drive-by shooting is and increase penalties on gang members who arm themselves without a permit to carry. It passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety committee, but that was its last hurrah.

House File 3008 (Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul): This bill would have modified the state constitution to eliminate all remaining vestiges of slavery and involuntary servitude. Those remnants of language, borrowed from the ancient Northwest Ordinance, have their roots in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and wound up in both the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment and the Minnesota Constitution. For now, that’s where they will remain.

House File 3837 (Hornstein): This bill changed requirements for identifying, responding to and reporting racially biased crimes. It would have directed the Department of Human Rights to “solicit, receive and compile reports from community organizations, school districts and charter schools, and individuals” about hate crimes in an effort to avoid underreporting incidents. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, numerous Asian-Americans have reported being the target of Minnesota hate crimes. The bill got as far as Ways and Means in the House before stalling. It got nowhere in the Senate.

House File 3658 (Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul). Another constitutional amendment, this one had high-profile support from former Supreme Court Justice and NFL superstar Alan Page, among others. It would have constitutionally guaranteed a quality education for all Minnesota students. But it was hobbled by resistance from the state’s high-powered teacher’s union and never got a committee hearing in either chamber.