The Minnesota Legislature entered the final stretch of session with much of its major work still unresolved, but lawmakers made progress after Governor Walz and legislative leaders announced a broad supplemental budget agreement Wednesday night. The deal includes stabilization funding for Hennepin County Medical Center, property tax relief, temporary vehicle tab fee reductions, fraud-prevention measures, technology upgrades, and a $1.2 billion bonding package. The agreement gives lawmakers a path forward, but the final test is whether those pieces can be turned into finished bills that can pass both chambers before adjournment.

 

The agriculture bill also continued to move in a more complicated way than usual. Earlier, agriculture provisions were removed from the broad Senate supplemental finance bill, SF 4059 (Marty), and moved separately as SF 5073 (Putnam). This week, SF 5073 advanced as the omnibus agriculture, broadband, and rural development policy and supplemental appropriations bill, passing the Senate yesterday by a 55-10 vote. An amendment banning paraquat, an EPA-approved herbicide, was offered on the floor but ruled out of order and ultimately not attached to the bill.

 

Democrats in the tied House of Representatives have continuously stated they will not advance an agriculture bill without a paraquat ban, while House Republicans have stated they would not advance a bill including a ban. This dynamic, in addition to the dwindling time left in session, makes it increasingly unlikely that an agriculture bill becomes law this year.

 

Other major issues also remained in motion including taxes, health care, public safety, commerce, housing, and fraud prevention. At the same time, the week saw sharp partisan tension over gun control legislation. After a lengthy debate that stretched into yesterday evening, House Democrats staged an overnight sit-in when the tied House did not have enough votes to bring the bill forward. That fight adds pressure to an already compressed final weekend and complicates the path to finalizing the agreement between the Governor and legislative leaders.

 

Looking ahead, Monday is the constitutional adjournment deadline, but the practical deadline is even tighter because lawmakers cannot pass bills on the final day of session. That leaves only a short window to move major conference committee reports and wrap up budget, bonding, and policy agreements.

 

Next Friday at noon, the MFBF public policy team will give an overview of the legislative session via Zoom. All MFBF members will receive an email with the Zoom link for the briefing. We hope you can attend, but if not, the briefing will be recorded and made available to members afterwards as well.

 

Bills This Week:

 

SF 5073 (Putnam)/HF 4885 (Hansen, R.) - Supplemental agriculture finance omnibus bill.

Summary: As amended, contains a number of provisions including funding for AURI’s legal costs, extending the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act, combining agency reports, making changes to seed potato law, and broadening the agroforestry loan program.

Position: Support the provision for AURI’s legal costs and extension of the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act.

To our members: MFBF is pleased to see the assistance for AURI and the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act extension move forward and hope to see them make it across the finish line this session. We are also grateful to see the bill pass the Senate by a wide margin without a paraquat ban.

Status: Passed the Senate Floor by a 55-10 vote and sent to the House on 05/14/2026. Introduced in the House and referred to the Rules Committee on 04/09/2026.

 

The MFBF public policy team and leadership are keeping track of everything that happens at the Capitol. Throughout the rest of session, we will continue to provide updates and insight into our work on behalf of our members.