Welcome back, Minnesota Legislature; House passes heating aid bill

Lawmakers have been gone from the Capitol for months, and return on Tuesday with all the politics and policy they left behind last year.

But in the House, they started the session with some bipartisan work.

The House unanimously passed $20 million bill to help low income Minnesotans with heating bills. With another week of subzero temperatures in the forecast and the region still gripped by a propane shortage, the measure is backed by the leadership of both parties and the governor.

"When we get hotline calls, people are calling in fear and desperation," Minnesota Department of Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman told members of the House Ways and Means Committee at an informational meeting Tuesday morning.

The measure will particularly aid those who have been struggling with high propane bills in Minnesota's particularly cold winter. After 45 minutes of debate, the measure to shift funds out of the general fund and into the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, has said the heating assistance bill will likely be the first measure on the governor's desk this session. Senate spokesman Amos Briggs said the Senate will act "quickly and urgently" to complete the legislative work on the bill.

Bakk told Senate members on Tuesday that the Senate may act on that bill on Monday.

Bakk said the earliest date he saw for the emergency fund run out of money was March 1, which is Saturday, when state employees won't be sending out checks.

"Even if it is March 1, getting the bill to the governor March 3 is, I believe, plenty timely," he said.

Given the accelerated timeline, Dayton will likely be able to sign that $20 million measure into law by next week.

The House and Senate also appointed, or re-appointed, members to deal with bicameral negotiations on a bill to hike the minimum wage.

Last year, the all Democratic Capitol failed to pass any minimum wage increase, despite the fact that DFL leaders said it was a priority, when the House and Senate could not agree on an increase.

Sen. Chris Eaton, who is sponsoring the minimum wage measure in the Senate, said the Senate plans extensive hearings on the measure before it brings it up for votes.

House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she thinks it is time to pass the measure.

"Minnesotans have talked about that minimum wage all summer and fall," Murphy said. "I think the Senate is listening to them and I think we're going to be able to make the action complete this year."

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