LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Lawmakers returned from the Easter/Passover recess in early April attempting to shift into the final phase of the legislative session, assembling omnibus bills that can pass the House and Senate. At the time of this writing, things were not going particularly smoothly and the path forward seemed murky at best as lawmakers attempted to find a way to wrap up what has been a very strange and tense biennium. 

The second year of the biennium is typically focused on policy bills and a capital investment bill as the state’s two-year budget is set during the first year of the biennium. This means nothing is actually required to pass during the second year, and with the tie in the Minnesota House and one-seat majority in the Senate, finding items on policy that have enough bipartisan agreement to pass has proven extremely challenging for legislative leaders. 

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that lawmakers are finding it difficult to assemble omnibus bills that make any meaningful change in state law this year. There are no agreed-to budget targets, which means committee chairs do not know how much, if any, money they are allowed to spend. This has led to an awkward mix of spending and policy proposals moving forward without a clear path to enactment. As we’ve discussed, the tie in the House has led to something akin to veto power for both GOP and DFL caucuses, meaning any policy that is deemed remotely controversial by either party has no path forward. 

This political dynamic has impacted AASPMN’s legislative efforts to clarify and strengthen Minn. Stat. 72A.201 this year. While we were able to get a hearing on our bill in the Senate Commerce Committee and have meaningful conversations with lawmakers throughout the legislative session, the strong opposition to our bill from the Insurance Federation has blocked our path forward for this legislative session. There still was legislative progress made on our issues this year, with additional legislative supporters developed and strengthened, but a path for our proposal, like most legislative proposals in 2026, has not materialized. 

What lawmakers are actually able to pass this year remains very much up in the air, but one issue that looms over the end of session negotiations is a funding fix for the state’s largest safety-net hospital, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). HCMC is facing a severe financial crisis with a potential closure as early as June 2026 due to a projected $200 million deficit, high uncompensated care costs and Medicaid funding reductions. Lawmakers are trying to find a way to provide financial certainty for HCMC and are weighing different tax proposals to shore up the troubled hospital before an unthinkable closure occurs. 

The session has a constitutionally required adjournment date of May 18 this year. We will continue to work and see if any opportunities present themselves between now and then, but all signs currently point to a very limited number of legislative successes for lawmakers in 2026.