In the Hopper: Catching up on bills affecting legal community

So many bills, so little time.

This week we’re catching up on some of the 2021 legislation could might alter the way lawyers do business — but that we’ve let slip through the cracks. We include a couple of new ones, too. No terribly deep dives this time; just the basic facts.

House File 864 (lead author, Rep. Athena Hollins). This bill would add a section to Minn. Stat. § 13.82. It classifies as private some mental health information that law enforcement agencies have begun collecting as they start offering mental health coordinating services.

Unlike social services agencies, most data recorded in police incident and arrest reports is public. The Hollins bill would reclassify as private mental health data that isn’t relevant to a criminal inquiry, just as if it were collected by a social services agency. Information would be treated as regular police enforcement data, however, if it is part of a criminal probe.

That bill, which was heard by House Judiciary on Feb. 16, was not put to a vote. Instead, it was laid over for possible inclusion in a future judiciary omnibus bill. Its companion bill, Senate File 234 (Sen. Karla Bigham, DFL-Cottage Grove) has yet to be heard by the Senate Civil Law committee.

Senate File 532 (Sen. Zach Duckworth, R-Lakeville) This simple bill was heard and passed to the floor by the Senate Civil Law committee on Feb. 16. It requires courts in family law proceedings to notify parties that they can resolve their cases through mediation rather than the court system.

That information must be provided before the first court hearing or initial appearance, and it must be included as part of a mailed notice for an initial case management conference, if one is provided. The bill’s companion, House File 342 (Rep. Sandra Masin, DFL-Eagan) is awaiting a hearing in House Judiciary.

Senate File 440 (Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks) This bill makes changes to a part of Minn. Stat. § 325 that deals with a scam — or investment strategy, depending on whom you ask — called “equity stripping.” Equity stripping involves a homeowner who sells a house to an investor, then continues to live there as a tenant. Some owners fall into a trap where they end up paying rent that’s higher than their original mortgage cost. Sometimes they end up getting evicted.

Currently, equity-stripping regulations apply to mortgage foreclosures. The new law tries to protect people from tax forfeiture scams as well. It would do that by giving a quit claim deed to the recorded homeowner, rather than the person redeeming on a property in a tax-forfeiture. “That can help stem some of the issues that arise from this scheme,” Johnson said.

The bill passed unanimously through Senate Civil Law on Feb. 11 and was sent to the Senate floor to await a vote. Its companion, House File 418 (Hollins) passed 17-0 through House Commerce on Feb. 2 and is awaiting another hearing at House Judiciary.

House File 7 (Rep. Liz Olson, DFL-Duluth) This latest stab at a workplace earned sick and safe time bill has made two stops at the House Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs committee.

Boiled to its essence, the bill allows Minnesota workers to take family or medical leave to care for themselves or their families. Workers would earn a minimum one hour of leave for every 30 hours they work, up to a maximum of 48 leave hours a year. Employers could make new workers wait up to 90 days before they use the benefit.

Among its provision, the 13-page bill defines the permissible uses of sick and safe time, which include taking time off for mental health treatment; taking time away from the job to deal with domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking or because of school closures or quarantine, among numerous other possibilities.

It prohibits retaliation against employees who use the leave and protects their jobs and benefits while they are gone. It also gives enforcement powers to the Department of Labor and Industry that resemble the agency’s wage and hour enforcement responsibilities. It also includes a civil right of action.

On its second stop at House Labor on Feb. 10, the bill passed 8-5 and was forwarded to the State Government and Elections committee. Its companion, Senate File 29 (Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul) is awaiting a hearing at Senate Labor and Industry. The bill is opposed by Republicans, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.

House File 312 (Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville) This bill would require courts to appoint counsel to parents or guardians who want a lawyer in any proceeding where a child risks removal. Kids being removed from their homes through the child welfare system has historically affected people of color and low-income households the most, Becker-Finn said.

“The color of your skin or the amount of money you have shouldn’t influence the outcome of these cases,” she said. Her bill appropriates $520,000 each year in FY2022-23 to the commissioner of Human Services to cover costs related to court-appointed counsel in child protection cases.

At a Feb. 9 House Judiciary hearing, Becker-Finn acknowledged that finding enough attorneys to handle the crush of cases might be problematic. But she said she hopes the proliferation of remote court technologies necessitated by COVID-19 will help bring clients and lawyers together.

Her bill, as amended, passed out of House Judiciary by a 12-4 vote and was forwarded to Human Services. Its companion, Senate File 941 (Sen. Andrew Matthews, R-Princeton), awaits a hearing at Senate Civil Law. Matthews is that committee’s chair.

House File 306 (Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope) This bill requires judges to consider indigence or financial hardship before they impose the standard $75 conviction surcharge. Frazier said it will give judges discretion to either waive or reduce the surcharge, or provide some alternative means for working it off. The legislation also requires that information be printed on the backs of issued tickets, notifying people that they can request a waived or reduced surcharge.

It was approved unanimously by House Public Safety on Feb. 9 and forwarded to House Judiciary. Its companion, Senate File 902 (Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park) has not gotten a hearing.

House File 336 (Becker-Finn) According to its author, this bill would stop the practice of suspending of driver’s licenses for reasons that don’t bear on public safety — primarily, for failing to pay fines or appear in court.

“Ultimately,” Becker-Finn said when the bill was presented at Public Safety on Feb. 9, “if the goal is that we want people to pay their fine, making it illegal for them to drive and get to work doesn’t really accomplish that goal.”

Her bill, which passed out of House Transportation on Feb. 4, cleared House Judiciary by an 18-1 vote on Feb. 9 — only Rep. Brian Johnson, R-Cambridge, voted no. The bill was then forwarded to Becker-Finn’s Judiciary committee, which hasn’t yet heard it. It companion, Senate File 432 (Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria) is scheduled for a Feb. 18 hearing in Senate Transportation.