At this point in the legislative session, the pace at the Capitol usually takes on a sense of urgency with the formation of numerous conference committees that often meet well into the night. Naturally, the limitations placed on legislative work by the pandemic have altered everything about the Legislature this year, but it still feels like the urgency is missing.
Given that session is scheduled to end on May 17 – less than three weeks from now – you would expect to see much more conference committee activity. For their part, the Senate is still passing omnibus bills off the Senate floor. Meanwhile, though numerous conference committees have been established, only two or three started meetings this week, and few conference committees have anything on the schedule yet for next week. So while this point in the legislative session is typically a sprint to the finish line, this year it feels more like the start of a marathon.
As conference committees get going, we are engaging with key legislators in numerous ways, including through letters outlining our priorities on relevant bills and one-on-one meetings. For instance, this letter was sent to all the members of the Jobs conference committee to outline our support for pandemic relief for small businesses, child care, and the Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure (BDPI) grant program, among other things.
You can see the various omnibus bills and the lists of conference committee members at leg.mn.gov/leg/cc/.
