Session Review – in a word, Clutterbuck

There's very little good to say about the 2024 session, except for that it is over. It'd be nice if I could say I was happy to see important bonding projects like the Xcel Energy Center renovation design, Rice Creek Commons, or the Park at RiversEdge get funded, but no. None of that happened (in what was supposed to be a "bonding session").
 
What did happen over the past few weeks, and especially the final 24 hours of Session, was hyper-partisanship and a complete breakdown of legislative rules and process. Protracted floor debate with endless points of order. Moving bills from one conference committee to another and introducing all new provisions. A ten-hour recess on the final Saturday. Which cumulated Sunday night with piling nine bills into a conference committee report in the 11th hour and not having the 2,860-page bill available to members to read to know what was in it. And then using procedural motions to force votes on this gigantic piece of legislation. Obviously, members of the minority party were not happy and chaos erupted on the floor (of both House and Senate).
 
Beyond the process, there were a lot of concerning items that ended up being passed in the waning minutes (and likely more to be found as we continue to sift through the gargantuan omnibus!) From the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for product containers to extremely punitive measures for worker misclassification to "fixes" for the Paid Leave program passed in 2023. The Uber/Lyft issue also was resolved in a manner that should keep the rideshare companies in the state (which is good news for the state's economy), but the time and energy it took to make it happen definitely caused other items to fall by the wayside.
 
While these next priorities were "stretch goals" in a non-budget year, I also was disappointed that this Session didn't yield the passage of a tax credit to convert vacant commercial buildings to support our downtown revitalization or a sustainable approach to funding emergency shelter operations.
 
There is one thing I would specifically like to call out as a "positive outcome" in the 2024 Session. The Education Conference Committee Report included $3.4 million for Emergency Services Program grants (with support homeless shelter operations) for shelter providers either serving increased populations or facing program closure. These are the realties facing emergency shelter operations in Ramsey County, so these funds are very much needed, and also very appreciated by the providers, local governments, and business community who advocated for these resources. Rep. Dave Pinto of Saint Paul serves as Chair of the House Children and Families Committee. He carried this funding in his budget and deserves a lot of thanks for supporting his community and getting this across the finish line.  
 
We're also happy to see that Ramsey-Washington Recycling and Energy received funding for their anaerobic digester to support the counties' innovative food scraps recycling program. This process will both produce clean fuel and reduce waste in our landfills.
 
We'll have to let these glimmers of positivity help us move past the "ick" of the Legislative Session. But, at least we can all be proud of the Timberwolves!
 
 
See you in the trenches,

​B