Legislative update-March 6, 2017

First committee deadline this Friday

This Friday, March 10, marks the first committee deadline, where committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin. Next Friday, March 17 is the second deadline, in which committees must act favorably on bills, or companion bills, that have met the first deadline in the other body. This week will include full committee agendas and late nights at the Capitol as committees work to fit in as many bills as possible before the Friday deadline.

As of Monday, the House has introduced 2,065 bills and the Senate has introduced 1,861 bills.

To learn more about committee deadlines and how they impact the legislative process, the House Public Information Services posted a video which is available HERE.

February forecast released, budget targets to follow

Last Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget released the February Forecast, which projected Minnesota’s state budget to have a $1.65 billion surplus for fiscal year 2018-19 with the current biennium projected to end with a balance of $743 million.

Governor Dayton is expected to release a supplemental budget proposal based on the updated projections next week.

In the coming weeks, the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee will examine budget proposals from the various finance committees in the House and Senate.

Friday, March 31 marks the third deadline in which the finance committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.