Committee considers bill to extend Minneapolis grant deadline after contract delay; measure laid over

ST. PAUL — The House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee heard from Representative Gomez and a City of Minneapolis government-relations director about House File 3,079, which would extend a spending deadline for a grant the Legislature included in 2023.

Representative Gomez told the committee the language being struck and replaced in the bill removes a firm payment deadline of July 15, 2023 and extends the deadline for spending the appropriation to June 30, 2027. Gomez said the implementing contract between the City of Minneapolis and the state department (DEED) was not finalized until June 2024, which compressed the timeline for grant activity and spending.

Why it matters: The grant is targeted at business support in the Lake Street corridor, an area that sustained damage and economic disruption after the 2020 civil unrest. City staff testified the selected implementing entity was chosen through a city RFP and that there were prolonged discussions with DEED about procurement, eligible expenses and how the funds should be administered. Committee members expressed frustration that the executing contract took longer than expected and said the extension is intended to give the city time to complete the work.

Testimony and committee response: Katie Topinka, Director of Government Relations for the City of Minneapolis, said the delay was a "combination of factors" involving back-and-forth with DEED, the need to select an entity through an RFP (the Graves Foundation was ultimately selected) and work to define eligible expenses. Chair Baker criticized the department's pace and called the need for a legislative fix "disappointing." Representative Schultz asked whether the funds that had been appropriated were reaching active businesses; Gomez and Topinka said some grant funding ("around a million or so dollars") had already flowed into the community but that additional time would allow more deliberate, higher-impact spending.

Committee action: With no public testimony in the room, the chair laid over House File 3,079 for possible future consideration; no final committee vote was taken.

Next steps: Committee staff said documents for the hearing are available online for public review; the bill remains on the committee calendar for future action.

Ending note: Members thanked Representative Gomez and City staff for their explanations; several members said they view the bill as a corrective step to permit completion of planned grant work after administrative delays.