Legislature Returns from Break
With the Minnesota Legislature scheduled to return from its Easter and Passover break tomorrow, they will have less than two weeks until the third and final committee deadline. Set for April 17th, 2026, the third committee deadline is the date by which committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
While it is not a conventional budget year, we do expect that some finance committees will assemble some form of omnibus supplemental finance legislation over the next two weeks. What form that will take remains to be seen as legislative leadership have not formally released supplemental budget resolutions or provided committee chairs with spending/cut targets as they have in the past. Legislators must complete whatever they hope to accomplish this session, including any potential capital investment or infrastructure package before their constitutional deadline to adjourn on May 18, 2026.
Proposal for Independent Office of the Inspector General Advances
With program integrity and fraud prevention a major theme of the legislative session, one proposal may have some measure of bipartisan support as it progresses through committee. Specifically, H.F. 1338, sponsored by Rep. Matt Norris (DFL-Blaine), would create an independent Office of the Inspector General charged with preventing, investigating, and supporting the prosecution of fraud and abuse in state programs.
The newly created office would operate independently of other executive branch agencies and report directly to the governor. The Inspector General would be a five-year appointment and must be approved by a three-fifths vote of the Senate. The companion bill, S.F. 856 (Gustafson) passed the Senate 60-7 last May, but the proposal did not have the support of Gov. Tim Walz or House Democrats at that time. While H.F. 1338 looks a bit different than S.F. 856, the concept of an independent state Inspector General has received more partisan support in recent weeks, even being included in Gov. Walz’s supplemental budget proposal.
The House State Government Finance and Policy Committee voted to pass H.F. 1338 and re-refer the bill to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee just prior to the legislative recess.
Important Dates
