Update on the 2025 Minnesota Legislative Session

Update on the 2025 Minnesota Legislative Session

By Kelly Law & Kari Johnson

The legislature is off this week for their scheduled legislative break and will reconvene on April 21st at noon. Last Friday, April 11th, was the third committee deadline for committees to finalize their omnibus bills. Below is an update regarding MCCD led bills and where they stand in the legislature.  

The constitutionally mandated adjournment of the legislature is May 19, 2025. If the Senate and House cannot come to an agreement and pass all their budgetary bills by then, the legislature will have to convene a special session. A state budget needs to be signed into law before July 1, 2025, in order to avoid a government shutdown. 

 

Action Alerts: We need your help this week to help gain support for the Small Business Assistance Partnerships program and HIBs. Please complete both action alerts and share the action alerts with 2 other people in your network! 

 

Status of MCCD-Led Bills: 

 

  • House: Included in the House Housing Committee Omnibus bill with a new authorization of $100 million. 

  • Senate: New authorization of HIBs are not included in the Senate Housing Committee Omnibus bill. 

  • House: Included in the House Housing Committee Omnibus bill with $10 million in one-time funding.  

  • Senate: No funding included for Challenge in the Senate Housing Committee Omnibus bill. 

  • House: The House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development bill has not been completed (we don’t expect to see it until next week or after the legislative break), we are hopeful that we will see at least something for the program in the House bill. 

  • Senate: The Senate Jobs Committee Omnibus bill includes base funding for the Small Business Assistance Partnerships Program ($5.45 million), but no additional funding 

  • House: The House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development bill has not been completed (we don’t expect to see it until next week or after the legislative break) and we don’t expect to see the policy changes in their bill. 

  • Senate: The Senate Jobs Committee Omnibus bill includes the policy changes for the CanStartUp Program. We asked not to include CanNavigate to avoid only a 5% allowance for admin.  

  • House: The Task Force is included in the House Commerce Committee Omnibus bill. 

  • Senate: The Task Force is included in the Senate Housing Committee Omnibus bill. 

 

Affordable Housing Summary 

The Senate and House Housing Committees have finalized their omnibus bills (SF 2298 and HF 2445). In the Senate with a $3 million budget target, we received funding for the Task Force on Homeowners and Commercial Property Insurance. With the goal of examining our property insurance crisis and identifying potential solutions, this Task Force would convene in August 2025 and would include members appointed by the legislature, the Department of Commerce, insurance industry experts, and community development organizations.  

In the House with a $75 million budget target, we secured a new authorization of $100 million for Housing Infrastructure Bonds and a one-time increase of $10 million to the Economic Development and Housing Challenge program. These programs are critical to our effort to build and preserve affordable housing across the entire state, and their inclusion in the House omnibus bill is an important step to securing new resources for housing development.  

Also included in the Senate and House bills were investments for the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP), the Workforce and Affordable Homeownership Development Program, the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program, and the Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing Development Program. 

Economic Development Summary 

The small business development bills and provisions are in a bit of a different situation compared to the housing bills. The Senate Jobs Omnibus bill is completed and includes the policy provisions for the CanStartUp program along with no base funding cuts to the Small Business Assistance Partnerships program. That funding is currently at $5.45 million, which leaves a $7.4 million budgetary gap from the previous biennium.  

The House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Omnibus bill is not completed yet and we don’t expect to see the DE amendment (delete everything amendment and replace with amended language) until next week or the week after. The House hearings this past week have indicated that they intend to revamp the Workforce Development Fund, and we may see significant budget cuts to many, if not all, DEED programs as the committee was given a $50 million negative budget target. If the Small Business Assistance Partnerships program is cut, it will be all hands on deck and we will need significant advocacy support from members. 

We have a meeting scheduled with Commissioner Varilek on April 24th to discuss the Small Business Assistance Partnerships program and its importance given federal cuts for similar programs. We are hoping that DEED and the Governor can be more supportive during conference committee negotiations. 

If you have any questions or would like more information on how to get involved at the legislature, please feel free to reach out to Kari Johnson (kjohnson@mccdmn.org) and Kelly Law (klaw@mccdmn.org).  

A Reflection on the Year of Cooperatives

Worker owners and cooperative development professionals gathered at the 2025 National Home Care Cooperative Conference. 

(Photo: Sam Levitan c/o the Cooperative Development Foundation)

A Reflection on the Year of Cooperatives

In the spirit of prosperity, cooperation, and sustainable economic development, The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2025 to be the International Year of Cooperatives. The theme, “Cooperatives Build a Better World,” highlights how cooperatives “promote the fullest possible participation in the economic and social development of local communities and all people… whose inclusion strengthens economic and social development, and contribute to the eradication of poverty and hunger.”

MCCD’s Shared Ownership team has hit the ground running in 2025 to support cooperative businesses across Minnesota, particularly those in the home and community-based services (HCBS) sector. Of the 27 worker-owned HCBS cooperatives in the United States, 5 of are based in Minnesota, supported by a unique, one-time, ARPA-funded grant program from the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS). Alongside this funding, MCCD has provided ongoing, no-cost specialized training to grant recipients on cooperative governance, business development, regulatory requirements, and financial management, supporting the leadership and ingenuity of worker owners with the technical knowledge necessary to successfully launch and sustain HCBS cooperatives.

Minnesota’s 5 HCBS cooperatives provide services to over 100 clients across 21 counties.

In an industry that suffers from high turnover, low pay, and limited career mobility, Minnesota’s HCBS cooperatives prioritize improving working conditions by giving caregivers control over workplace decisions, leading to better training, higher pay, increased engagement, and better worker retention. Agencies that are cooperatively owned pay their workers $2/hour more on average and have 30% employee turnover, a significant decrease from the industry average turnover of 79%. This is transformative not only for workers, but also for the health and wellbeing of communities across Minnesota; high quality, relationship and community-based homecare supports seniors and people with disabilities in leading dignified, self-determined lives.

To highlight Minnesota’s unique position in this sector, 4 of the state’s HCBS cooperatives, alongside MCCD’s Director of Shared Ownership Electra Skrzydlewski and Senior Shared Ownership Advisor Darren Mozenter, recently traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the National Home Care Cooperative Conference. With 27 home care cooperatives and over 100 cooperative development professionals in attendance, Electra, Darren, and 10 of Minnesota’s worker-owners spent 2 days listening to the stories of cooperatives from coast to coast while celebrating the innovation of America’s worker owners. Electra was thrilled to give a presentation focused on Minnesota DHS’s unique grant program targeted at the development of a state-level home care cooperative ecosystem.

MCCD’s Director of Shared Ownership Electra Skrzydlewski presenting at the 2025 National Home Care Cooperative Conference. 

(Photo: Sam Levitan c/o the Cooperative Development Foundation)

Highlighting stories like Minnesota’s, says Electra, shows just how revolutionary the cooperative business model is for both direct care professionals and people receiving services. “When we come together, united by shared values and principles, we create the conditions for people to step into their power—both as individual leaders and as part of a growing movement. Together, we’re not just developing direct care businesses—we’re building people-powered cooperatives that are locally owned, democratically controlled, and deeply rooted in equity, fairness, and community. These co-ops have the power to transform the lives of caregivers and the people they serve.”

Get involved

Do you want to learn more about the power of the cooperative business model? Are you a small business owner or community group interested in exploring the cooperative model as a fit for your business or start-up?

MCCD’s Shared Ownership program supports the start-up and conversion of shared ownership businesses like cooperatives across the state through free technical assistance, training events, and a 4% loan fund. For more information, fill out our online client intake form or email our team directly.

Electra Skrzydlewski, Director of Shared Ownership: eskrzydlewski@mccdmn.org

Darren Mozenter, Senior Shared Ownership Advisor: dmozenter@mccdmn.org