Committee backs bill to restore pregnancy-center grants, adds $1 million for maternity homes

The House Health Finance and Policy Committee voted 11–10 on Feb. 12 to recommend passage of House File 25, a bill that would restore state grant funding for pregnancy resource centers and create a separate $1 million grant stream for maternity homes.

Supporters said the measure restores an earlier, bipartisan program and provides housing and wraparound supports for pregnant people in crisis. Opponents, including Minnesota Department of Health officials and several Democratic lawmakers, said the bill risks reducing funding for evidence‑based sexual and reproductive health services and lacks required safeguards such as standards for medically accurate information and required referrals for abortion care.

House File 25 as amended directs $4,000,000 in total grant funding similar to the previous positive alternatives grant program. Representative Elisa Zalesnikar, the bill’s author, told the committee the amendment (A2) re‑allocates the prior $4 million so that $3,000,000 would…