HF 2312 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Higher education policy and finance bill.

HF 2312 updates Minnesota's campus sexual misconduct grievance procedures for colleges and universities. It requires institutions to provide impartial investigations, offer academic/residential supportive measures to both parties (like assignment extensions or housing changes), and ensure equal opportunity to present evidence during hearings. The bill mandates that advisors - not the parties themselves - conduct cross-examination, sets the "preponderance of evidence" standard for student cases, and prohibits questioning about a reporting party's sexual history unless directly relevant to consent or identifying the perpetrator. These changes apply to all Minnesota public and private colleges receiving state funding.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 13, 2025 Last action Apr 24, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 5 edits · Apr 24, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was updated from its introduction to its first engrossment, reflecting a significant expansion of the legislative text. The most substantive change is the addition of detailed provisions requiring postsecondary institutions to implement comprehensive sexual misconduct grievance procedures, including specific rules for investigations, hearings, evidence presentation, and protections against retaliation. The bill also broadens protections for pregnant and parenting students and updates reporting requirements for various grant programs.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded significantly to include detailed operational requirements for campus sexual misconduct processes and enhanced protections for pregnant and parenting students, moving beyond initial policy statements to specific procedural mandates.

REQUIREMENT

Added detailed requirements for campus sexual misconduct grievance procedures, including impartial investigations, supportive measures for both parties, live hearings with decision-makers, and strict rules against retaliation.

Expanded protections for pregnant and parenting students by requiring institutions to provide reasonable modifications, excused absences, and leave of absence policies without penalty.

REPORTING

Added new reporting requirements for the Office of Higher Education to annually report on grant programs, including demographic data and utilization rates.

DEFINITION

Modified definitions in the dual training competency grants section to clarify requirements for industry-recognized accredited degrees and certificates.

TECHNICAL

Added numerous new sections and subsections to the bill text, renumbering existing statutes and creating new sections for revisor instructions and repealer provisions.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 24, 2025

Committee

Joint rule 2.03, Deadlines, re-referred to Rules and Legislative Administration

lower

Apr 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt as amended and re-refer to Ways and Means

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading, referred to Higher Education Finance and Policy

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor