Rep. Bobbie Harder

Maddy summaryHF 3154 appropriates $200,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $200,000 for fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to provide grants to the Rural Policy and Development Center. The funds are allocated through the commissioner of agriculture under Minnesota Statutes section 116J.421. This bill directly affects the Rural Policy and Development Center by providing dedicated funding for its operations and grant programs in Minnesota.

Maddy summaryHF 20 clarified which data maintained by Minnesota's Attorney General's Office must be treated as "private data" under state law. It specifically designated five categories as private: disciplinary records (excluding public hearings), non-final administrative communications, consumer complaint data (excluding confidential data), inactive investigative files, and detailed home protection hotline information (like mortgage details and income). This change directly affects the Attorney General's Office by requiring them to handle these specific data types with privacy protections. The bill was introduced in 2025 but was not passed by the legislature and was laid on the table.

Maddy summaryHF 41 appropriates $1.25 million for fiscal year 2026 and $1.25 million for fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to provide grants for meat, poultry, egg, and milk processing facilities in Minnesota. The grants help facilities start up, modernize, or expand operations, with each grant capped at $200,000. Funds are administered under Minnesota’s agricultural growth program and may be carried forward to 2028 if unspent. This directly supports Minnesota’s livestock processing sector by providing financial assistance for facility improvements.

Maddy summaryHF 130 establishes mandatory minimum prison sentences for individuals convicted of sex trafficking minors in Minnesota. It requires a minimum 10-year prison term (120 months) for first-degree sex trafficking involving victims under 18, and a 12-year term (144 months) when aggravating factors are present. These factors include prior trafficking offenses, victim bodily harm, extended debt bondage (over 180 days), or trafficking multiple victims. The bill directly affects offenders convicted under these specific sex trafficking provisions, replacing judicial discretion with fixed sentencing ranges for these crimes. It takes effect August 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHF 1396 expands Minnesota law enforcement's permitted uses of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). It adds 10 specific scenarios where police may deploy drones, including conducting threat assessments before events, gathering evidence after serious traffic collisions, searching for missing persons, and collecting information with reasonable suspicion of crime. The bill modifies Minnesota Statutes section 626.19, subdivision 3, to authorize these uses while requiring written consent for private property use and written requests from other government entities. This directly affects all Minnesota law enforcement agencies operating drones under current statutes. The changes focus on operational safety, evidence preservation, and public safety during specific high-risk situations.

Maddy summaryHF 2881 appropriates $4.9 million from the general fund for the Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, with the same amount continuing annually thereafter. This funding directly supports the task force's operations, enabling it to investigate and combat human trafficking within Minnesota. The bill provides specific, concrete financial resources without altering existing laws or creating new obligations.

Maddy summaryHF 8 streamlines Minnesota's environmental permitting process to improve efficiency and transparency. It sets specific timeframes (90 days for simpler permits, 150 days for complex ones), requires the Pollution Control Agency to issue separate construction and operation permits for certain facilities, and mandates that petitioners for environmental assessments must live in affected or neighboring counties. The bill also eliminates preliminary environmental assessment steps for projects requiring full environmental impact statements and requires the agency to publish annual reports tracking permitting progress. These changes directly affect developers, landowners, and the Pollution Control Agency in processing environmental permits.

Maddy summaryHF 3111 amends Minnesota's earned sick and safe time law to add new exemptions for specific workers. It exempts independent contractors, certain volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel, elected officials, farm workers employed for 28 days or less annually, on-call workers not scheduled in advance, students in on-the-job training, and employees normally working fewer than 25 hours per week. The bill directly affects these worker categories by removing their eligibility for the state's earned sick time requirements. This change modifies Minnesota Statutes section 181.9445, subdivision 5, which defines who qualifies as an "employee" under the law. The policy change is purely procedural, focusing on clarifying who is excluded from the sick time mandate.

Maddy summaryHF 2242 requires Minnesota's Commissioner of Human Services to select a single state pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) through a competitive bidding process. This PBM will handle all prescription drug claims for Minnesota's Medicaid (medical assistance) and MinnesotaCare programs, replacing the current system where multiple PBMs might be used. The bill mandates a master contract with this single PBM, specifies rules for drug coverage and reimbursement, and requires the commissioner to report on the program's operation. It also includes strict transparency requirements during procurement, such as disclosing potential conflicts of interest and financial ties between the PBM and pharmacies or drug manufacturers.

Maddy summaryThis bill appropriates $35 million from state bond proceeds specifically for Minnesota town roads and bridges. $25 million is allocated for town roads and $10 million for town bridges, to be distributed by the commissioner of transportation per existing rules (Minnesota Statutes §162.081). The state will issue up to $35 million in bonds to fund this appropriation, following established bond procedures under Minnesota law. The funding directly affects local town governments responsible for maintaining roads and bridges within their jurisdictions. The bill becomes effective upon final enactment.