HF 2900

03/12/25   REVISOR  MS/ES  25-04313
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request  State of Minnesota
  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
  H. F. No.       2900
03/27/2025     Authored by Howard
  The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on State Government Finance and Policy
1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to housing; creating local government grant account; establishing grant
1.3programs for local governments to pay for certain costs of federal action;
1.4appropriating money.
1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.6Section 1. LOCAL GOVERNMENT GRANTS; LEGAL EXPENSES.
1.7Subdivision 1. Definition. For purposes of this section, "local government" means a
1.8county, home rule charter or statutory city, township, or school district.
1.9Subd. 2. Local government legal grant account. The commissioner of management
1.10and budget must establish the local government legal grant account in the special revenue
1.11fund.
1.12Subd. 3. Transfer. On July 1, 2025, the commissioner of management and budget must
1.13transfer $10,000,000 from the budget reserve account established in Minnesota Statutes,
1.14section 16A.152, subdivision 1a, to the local government legal grant account.
1.15Subd. 4. Appropriation. Funds in the local government legal grant account are
1.16appropriated in fiscal year 2026 to the commissioner of revenue to make grants to local
1.17governments for eligible costs in subdivision 6. The commissioner of revenue may transfer
1.18money in the local government grant account to the commissioner of education to distribute
1.19grants to school districts that have been awarded a grant under subdivision 5.
1.20Subd. 5. Application; award. A local government may apply to the commissioner of
1.21revenue for a grant from the local government legal grant account to pay for eligible costs
1.22under subdivision 6. A local government may apply to the commissioner for a grant in a
Section 1.  1
03/12/25   REVISOR  MS/ES  25-04313
2.1  form and manner prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner must allocate grants
2.2  on a first-come, first-served basis.
2.3      Subd. 6. Grants use. Money in the local government legal grant account must be used
2.4  to reimburse a local government for eligible costs incurred by a local government. Eligible
2.5  costs include actual local government legal costs that were incurred to address the
2.6  implications of federal executive orders, including:
2.7      (1) continuing special education services;
2.8      (2) providing programs that reduce disparities;
2.9      (3) challenging federal censorship or segregation orders; or
2.10     (4) upholding state law that conflicts with a federal executive order that was made
2.11 effective after January 19, 2025.
2.12 No individual grant to a local government may exceed $500,000.
2.13     Subd. 7. Unused balance. Any balance remaining in the local government legal grant
2.14 account after July 1, 2026, must be transferred to the budget reserve account by July 15,
2.15 2026.
2.16     EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
Section 1.  2