Legislative Update

Friends and Neighbors,

Housing Committee made the news last night as a bill to require new construction builders to provide alternative housing accommodations if the building is not ready by the time a tenant's lease is set to start. This comes as a result of a builder near the U of M who last year had signed leases for students to move in at the start of the school year but the housing development wasn’t completed until months later leaving many students without housing.

Remedies for tenants who are left without suitable housing at no fault of their own is widely supported. What my amendment would do is strike the onerous penalties that this bill would impose on housing providers who are in the difficult situation of construction delays and likely cost overruns. Subdivision 5 even states that these are in addition to any damages awarded by the court. Adding even more penalties on top of legal fees and court orders is going to disincentivize builders from taking on any risk and investing in the housing that many parts of the state so desperately need right now.

Back at the start of the week, we passed the School Resource Officer fix on Monday. I’m glad we could finally get this important legislation to a place that will work for all Minnesotans and get SROs back in the schools where they are desperately needed. I’ve heard from students, parents, and teachers about how necessary resource officers are to their schools. I look forward to those conversations turning into good news once this legislation goes into effect.

I wish this fix could have been accomplished before the school year started, but I’m glad we’ve finally reached a compromise. Our students and teachers deserve a learning environment that is safe and SROs are an important piece of that equation. This bill is now in the Senate where it will hopefully move quickly and then get sent to the Governor's desk.

Legislative Update

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