God's beautiful sunset over Saint Michael this past week!

Dear friends and neighbors,

It was a beautiful weekend and I hope you had an opportunity to celebrate Mothers Day with someone in your life! Mothers are an integral part of the family unit and we thank and honor the mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, and all the women in our lives who helped shape us into the person we are today!

We are exactly one week out from required adjournment Monday next week, May 19. Due to the nearly month of lost time from House Democrats refusing to show up for work back in January combined with Democrats refusing to prioritize Minnesotans over illegal immigrants to assist closing the $6 billion deficit, it is likely impossible to pass funding bills by the deadline. I anticipate there will be a special session sometime in late May or June.

Sen. Lucero with Sen. Pha outside the chamber after Senate passage of SF1750.

Background: Tuesday last week, Senate File 1750 passed the full Senate by a vote of 44-to-22, a two-thirds majority, after a vibrant and lengthy discussion. While I am the chief author of SF 1750, the bill was the product of months of work by many stakeholders to address issues surrounding HOAs, including co-author Sen. Pha. Sen. Pha and I worked closely for the last nine months on the bill, and I’m proud to share this accomplishment with her. SF 1750 is a true bipartisan compromise and the bill’s passage by the full Senate could not have happened without the hard work of both sides of the aisle, along with the hard work of the authors in the House, Rep. Bahner and Rep. Mekeland.

Why it Matters: Homeowners across Minnesota continue sharing their stories of experiencing exploitative fines, unjust foreclosures, decisions lacking transparency, conflicts of interest, and more. SF 1750 makes great strides resolving several of the issues to balance the scales between residents, HOA boards, and property management companies. 

Key provisions of the bill include:

• Strengthens conflict of interest rules: Board members and property managers must disclose financial relationships and recuse themselves of decisions regarding personal matters. Large contracts must receive at least three competitive bids and chosen based on fair criteria.
• Increased transparency and homeowner rights: HOA documents (budget proposals, financial documents, contracts, etc.) must be shared to residents. HOAs must also let resident speak at meetings.
• Adds reasonable guardrails for rulemaking: HOAs must provide 60 days notice before adopting new rules, and residents can vote to overturn rules if at least 20% request a vote and a majority agree to repeal.
• Limits excessive fines and fees: Fees would become proportional to the violation so that excessive fines cannot be imposed on minimal violations. Late fees are capped to $15 or 5% of the amount owed, whichever is greater.

• Sets fair threshold for foreclosure: HOAs can no longer foreclose on a home solely over unpaid fines, except in cases involving repeat or more serious violations. This ensures that foreclosure is a last resort, not a first option.

• Establishes a path to dissolve inactive or unnecessary HOAs: Makes it easier to dissolve associations for detached single-family homes with no shared maintenance obligations.

• Promotes fair dispute resolution: Requires HOAs to adopt an informal internal process to resolve disputes before escalating matters legally. This model is used in several other states.

• Prevents forced HOA creation by local governments: Local governments may no longer require the formation of an HOA as a condition for approving residential developments. This limits and prevents unnecessary or unwanted HOA obligations. 

Many of these provisions are already law in many states, including Texas, Nevada, Virginia, and Colorado. Minnesota is catching up by providing homeowners with the rights they deserve.

Next Steps: The bill awaits passage by the House of Representatives.  

Confirmed fraud on Democrat watch is already north of $600 million but I expect will likely exceed $1 billion when the dust settles.

Background: Thursday last week, SF 856 passed the full Senate. This bill would create an Office of the Inspector General, who would be responsible for protecting the state from fraud and abuse, both internally and externally. The bill received overwhelmingly bipartisan support.

Why it Matters: Minnesota is currently hemorrhaging tax dollars to massive fraud, waste, and abuse on Gov. Walz’s watch. The confirmed total dollar amount lost thus far now exceeds $600 million! This is unacceptable and accountability lies at Gov. Walz’s feet. Thankfully, SF 856 would create a new office to be directly in charge of combating waste, fraud, and abuse. This is something our State desperately needs despite Gov. Walz’s strong opposition to the bill.

Next Steps: Now that SF 856 has passed the Senate, the bill still needs to pass the House before being sent to Gov. Walz for his signature. It will certainly be interesting to see if Gov. Walz vetos the bill given his opposition to the legislation. 

Sen. Lucero along with Sen. Anderson and Sen. Limmer visiting with a group of private-school student constituents from Holy Spirit Academy Wednesday last week at the Capitol.

Background: Wednesday last week, a rally was held at the Capitol to support continued funding of non-public pupil aid. The rally was in response to Gov. Walz's proposed cuts to non-public pupil aid, which is an irresponsible and dangerous threat to thousands of Minnesotan students, parents, and schools who rely on this critical funding.

Why it Matters: The rally drew people from across the state to make their voices clear and draw a line in the sand. Non-public pupil aid funds bus transportation, nutritious meals, and other vital necessities. Gov. Walz’s proposed cuts are a large threat but I’m committed to protecting the funding students desperately need. 

Next Steps: I will vote against any legislation that threatens the funding.

Fun time with friends Saturday evening at the Minnesota Family Council annual dinner with Hugh Hewitt as keynote in the continued spiritual battle for truth and family values!

Democrats continue promoting Kamala Harris' loss on the lie Americans are sexist and racist. Truth = Americans rejected Democrats' anti-American priorities.

The trades offer high-demand, high-paying jobs. 4-year degrees in the HARD SCIENCES also offer success. The big fraud is 4-year degrees in the SOCIAL SCIENCES offering high-debt and little skills.

Each and every day I’m continuously humbled at the opportunity to represent and fight for the values and priorities of our great community!

Please contact me to share any issues, concerns, or feedback you have to assist me best represent you. The best way to reach me is by email at [email protected] or by phone at 651-296-5655.

Sincerely,

Eric Lucero

State Senator

District 30

Rockford Township, Hanover, Saint Michael, Albertville, Otsego, Elk River, Nowthen, Western Oak Grove

Capitol Address

95 University Avenue W.
Minnesota Senate Bldg. 2413
St. Paul, MN 55155

651-296-5655

Unsubscribe from future updates