Here's where small business owners stand right now during the Minnesota Legislative Session
Senate Passes PPP Loan Forgiveness, House is Stalling, SF 263/HF991
It was encouraging to see the Senate on a strong bi-partisan vote, pass the PPP loan forgiveness bill several weeks ago but it is now clear there will be no such action in the House. Unfortunately, they chose recently to put their version of PPP loan forgiveness in their omnibus tax bill and the major tax bill will almost certainly not get passed until the budget is agreed to at the end of the legislative session around May17th. The Senate took early action on the bill and was urging the House to pass it as a singular bill before tax filings. NFIB is pushing hard to include total conformity in the omnibus bill.
COVID Liability Protection Bill Passes to the Senate Floor, SF745
Another top priority for NFIB, providing protection for business from meritless COVID liability lawsuits has advanced to the Senate floor. The path forward is uncertain though, the House is strongly opposed to providing these protections to businesses. NFIB is urging Senate leaders to bring this up in the session ending negotiations in May.
Renewal of Critical Reinsurance Plan Passes the Senate, SF694
The Senate acted quickly on renewing the reinsurance plan that saved the Minnesota individual health insurance market back in 2017 and reduced and stabilized individual health insurance market premiums. No action yet in the House but they did give the bill a hearing and are considering it. There is one year left of federal funding included in the federal waiver for this program and hopefully the House will agree to renewing it eventually.
