Minnesota State Wire

[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz today signed nine bills into law as passed by the Minnesota Legislature.

“Public safety professionals put their lives on the line for their communities,” said Governor Walz. “We have an obligation to ensure that when they need mental health support, they get it. By funding treatment programs for public safety professionals, we’re delivering on that promise and supporting the people that serve our communities each and every day.”

The Governor’s bill signing included:

Chapter 48, House File 1234 – Duty Disability

The bill provides $104 million to fund treatment programs for police officers, firefighters, and other public safety professionals diagnosed with PTSD. The bill also provides funding to cover their wages and benefits while in treatment.

Chapter 40, House File 1999 – Legacy Omnibus Bill

The Legacy Omnibus Bill appropriates $818 million for conservation, clean water, parks & trails, and arts & culture projects and programming across the state. The bill funds habitat restoration, clean water programs across state agencies, parks and trails funding throughout Greater Minnesota and the metro, and museums, educational arts programs, and more.

Chapter 42, House File 2204 - Redistricting provision of the Metropolitan Council districts

As directed by Minnesota Statute 473.123, this bill redistricts the Met Council districts so that each district has a substantially equal population.

Chapter 44, House File 1126 – Higher Ed Policy Omnibus

The bill adds language expanding the uses of the mineral research scholarships account to include students enrolled in STEM programs and provides a definition for “Tribal Colleges.”

Chapter 45, House File 3100 – Omnibus Pension Bill

The bill reduces the actuarial assumption for investment rate of return, eliminates the delay to normal retirement age on the commencement of postretirement adjustments, and reduces the vesting requirement for the general employee's retirement plans of the Minnesota State Retirement System and the Public Employees Retirement Association. This bill also modifies the postretirement adjustment for the local government correctional service retirement plan, provides a onetime postretirement adjustment to all pension plan members, temporarily and reduces the employee contribution rate for the general state employees’ retirement plan.

Chapter 46, House File 782 – Minnesota Secure Choice Retirement Program establishment

This bill provides $5 million to establish and administer the Minnesota Secure Choice Retirement Program, a state-sponsored program allowing private sector employees to save for retirement.

Chapter 47, House File 2950 – Pension policy bill

This bill amends certain Minnesota statutes which govern the State Patrol Retirement Plan to reduce the length of time from 90 days to 60 days before retirement that a member of the Plan may apply for retirement. It also extends the minimum time period for purchasing service credit for periods of military leave under the Teachers Retirement Association and the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association to three years.

Chapter 49, House File 1486 – Substance use disorder licensing modifications

The bill will expand access to addiction treatment services by allowing a former student to practice alcohol and drug counseling for 90 days at the site where the student completed their internship. The bill requires the student to be paid, supervised, and provides that the practice will automatically expire after 90 days.

Chapter 51, House File 2988 – Workers’ Compensation Advisory Committee

This bill adopts recommendations made by the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council (WCAC) related to workers’ compensation self-insurance; workers’ compensation housekeeping and system efficiency proposals; permanent partial disability schedule updates; hospital outpatient fee schedule payments; and a Department-led study of work-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

Original source can be found here.