Legislative Update

The legislature ended its Special Session the morning of Saturday, June 20 with little progress on major bills. The Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act failed to pass despite strong bipartisan support in both chambers, and from leadership in the Energy and Utilities Committee in the Senate. There was no deal made on a bonding bill. If passed, a bonding bill could create $350 million in energy projects at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities alone.

With Minnesota remaining the only divided legislature in the nation, this being a budget year, and still being in the middle of a global pandemic, we headed into the 2021 legislative session with cautious optimism. Given the split, viable policies needed to have bipartisan agreement and be big enough for the legislature to consider with their limited time among a number of other pressing issues.

May 18 marks the final day of the 2020 Legislative Session. We continue to speak with state legislators as they prioritize their work. Leaders have outlined three priorities for the remainder of session: COVID-19 response, state bonding, and matters where both parties have strong agreement on bills already moving at the Capitol.

The Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act was heard in energy committees in both the Senate and House on Thursday, April 23. We are happy to report that the bill was passed out of these committees. The bill had strong support, and the bill authors called out the support of clean energy groups.

The Minnesota Legislature narrowed its focus and priorities for the remainder of session in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers recessed on March 17 and will not meet again until April 14, with the exception to reconvene for COVID-related actions.

The first weeks of March will be a busy time for clean energy discussions in St. Paul. March marks the beginning of legislative deadlines. Every year the leadership in the House and Senate establish deadlines for committee action on bills. Committee deadlines winnow the list of topics to be dealt with in a given legislative year. Here are three trends to watch as we head toward deadlines.

The 2020 legislative session is officially underway! The early weeks continue to be a busy time for clean energy discussions in St. Paul. Here are three trends to watch as we head toward the end of February.

We have reached the final days of legislative session for 2019. The House and Senate have both passed versions of energy policy. The policy proposals are now sent to a Conference Committee- a select set of five representatives and five senators to debate and come to an agreement.

The 2019 legislative deadline of May 20 is quickly approaching! The next stage involves discussion of both House and Senate respective policy packages.