|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
APA Minnesota Legislative Committee
APA-MN Legislative and Law Committee Summer Meeting APA-MN's Legislative and Law Committee summer meeting will be held on Friday, June 14 from noon to 3 p.m. at Stantec's office in Roseville. I'll send out an agenda closer to that time. I hope you can attend. If you have any questions, please contact: Matthew C. Brown, AICP Legislative Update Brief As the Legislature continues to debate and negotiate omnibus bills, along with budget, taxes, and capital bonding requests, there are two recent developments that may be interest of planners. If other issues surface before the end of the session, we will keep you posted. Legislature Passes Public Contracting Changes for Establishing Organized Garbage Collection Services SF 510 Laws 2013, chapter 45 was delivered to Governor Dayton on May 3rd. The bill removes the six month process for creating local government organized waste removal systems. The new process requires a 60-day period for negotiating with haulers that provide existing services as a part of transitioning to contracted organized collection service that is enabled by passage of an ordinance. After the 60-day period, if agreements are not reached, the local government is directed to create a committee that will study options and provide recommendations to the governing body. Contracts for services are required to be executed to last over a period of three to seven years. According to the League of Minnesota Cities, the bill, as passed, was supported by the League of Minnesota Cities and Metro Cities. (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=45&year=2013&type=0) Annexation Law Changes Debate Expected in 2014 Although it is possible that the bill’s chief author may attempt to find a way to amend HF 1425 on to an existing bill this session, the committee chair has indicated that the issue should be studied in the interim. The Senate companion bill, SF 1353, was introduced on March 13 and referred to the Committee on State and Local Government. No action has been taken in the Senate. (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=HF1425&y=2013&ssn=0&b=house) Updated information relating to Minnesota House and Senate is now available online and includes the House members that have filled two vacated seats. Representative Clark Johnson and Representative Tama Theis each won vacated House seats as a result of special elections that were held on February 12, 2013. Representative Johnson replaces former Representative Terry Morrow in District 19A; Representative Theis replaces former Representative Steve Gottwalt in District 14A. Representative Johnson has been assigned to the House Agriculture Policy, Environment and Natural Resources Policy, Health and Human Services Policy and Transportation Finance committees. Representative Theis has been assigned to serve on the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy, Government Operations, and Higher Education Finance and Policy committees. Link to Updated House Member Information, 2013 - 2014: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/hmem.asp Link to Updated Senate Member Information, 2013 - 2014: http://www.senate.mn/members/index.php?ls=#header 88th Legislative Session Continues During this same period, the February 28th economic forecast was released and the Governor issued his supplemental budget to address the forecast. By March 19th, both policy committee deadlines for the House and Senate had passed. When the Legislature resumes activities on April 2, the focus will turn to addressing bills that require the attention of the various appropriation and financing committees. The next deadline is April 19. This is when committees need to act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills. As these deadlines are reached, the rules committees of the House and Senate are be busy acting on referrals for bills that have been passed by committees by the deadlines. Lawmakers will have the rest of April and just three weeks in May to reach agreements and conclude their work for 2013. APA MN Day at the Capitol Later in the morning, planners were provided with an opportunity to attend committee hearings that were scheduled between 10 a.m. and noon. During the brown bag lunch, Representative Denny McNamara briefed members on the legislative session and highlighted the importance of reaching out to their legislators. The afternoon included a discussion with Jason Jordan, APA's Director of Policy and Government Affairs. The purpose of the discussion was to provide attendees with insights about influencing policies that are developed at the legislature. The Committee's 2013 legislative session tracking sheets are periodically updated to include bill introductions and processing of bills during session. Bills introduced in 2013 will continue to remain active during the 2014 session. The latest tracking sheets are posted in the table of committee meetings that are found below. These bills are tracked on topics primarily relating to:
The tracking information about the 2011-2012 Session and 1st Special Sessions for 2011 and 2012 are archived on tabs within the 2013-2014 tracking sheets. The Governor's Executive Orders tab has also been updated to include Executive Orders for 2011 and 2012. Executive orders will continue to be tracked in the current tracking sheets. Misc Documents
Preliminary Draft White Paper: "Minnesota's Planning and Zoning Enabling Laws: Analysis and Options for Reform" (PDF File) Enabling Law Reform - Purpose and Need
Come and join the Legislative Committee at their next meeting!
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
