After three weeks of the 2016 session, the Legislature took a long weekend break to observe Easter. We returned on Tuesday to a flurry of activity with members working to meet the first committee deadline, which was Friday, April 1.

Each year, nearly 2,000 bills are introduced. Historically, the 67th Legislature (1971) saw the most introductions with 3,195 bills. As of Thursday, March 31, we have had 1,394 bills introduced since we came back into session. Bill processing deadlines are enforced to focus legislators’ attention and priorities into a quantified period of time. Any member of the Minnesota House of Representatives can have a bill drafted and introduced, however the House Majority committee chairs ultimately decide on which bills will receive a hearing, if at all, and when.

Three separate deadlines defining when committees must approve legislation are created every session. These deadlines are required to focus legislators’ attention and priorities into a specified period of time. This past week was packed with committee meetings and floor sessions trying to accommodate the movement of bills from one committee to the next.

Every committee is in charge of a policy and/or budget area. There are a few committees dealing only with policy or finance but several have the dual responsibility. Key committees are responsible for specific House procedures, like the Rules Committee which determines what bills are coming to the House Floor for a full vote, or the Ways and Means Committee which ensures each fiscal bill fits within the parameters for the budget spending allowance. There is a committee dedicated to Taxes which defines where revenue comes from rather than how it is spent; fiscal committees determine how money is spent.

The first two committee deadlines are for policy bills. If a legislator has a bill with no fiscal impact or if he or she is carrying a bill that has policy provisions with financial impact, that legislator must get the bill heard and passed out of the policy committees by midnight Friday, April 1. The first deadline requires the bill make it through either the House or the Senate policy committees by that date. It is not uncommon for a number of committees to meet until midnight on the first deadline.

One bill I am authoring providing support for caregivers through a respite care program met the first deadline. HF 3009 was heard on March 30 in the Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee and was successfully passed to the HHS Finance committee. The bill creates a social, non-medical, community-based respite care program that would make it easier for families to provide care for loved ones with dementia. HF 3009 will encourage opportunities throughout the state by providing funds to the Area Agencies on Aging for distribution to grant recipients who will begin or expand these community-based respite programs. The bill has bipartisan support and should there be a supplemental budget bill within the Health and Human Services committee of the Minnesota House, I will work for its inclusion.

Please never hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at 651-296-4193 or 888-682-3180 or by email at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn. Postal mail can be sent to: 291 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155.