House committee forwards workforce omnibus with deep cuts to investment programs; film office, fee alignments and direct appropriations debated

The House Workforce Development, Labor and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee voted to re‑refer House File 2441 to the Committee on Ways and Means after a lengthy hearing that included a budget spreadsheet walk‑through, agency testimony and more than two dozen public testifiers.

Committee co-chairs said the committee’s target was a $50 million per‑biennium reduction and that the bill cannot draw net spending from the workforce development fund under the controlling budget resolution. House fiscal staff said the package shows a net reduction of $53,896,000 from base (the change-from‑February column) across the committee’s jurisdiction, including a $52,746,000 per biennium cut in the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) accounts.

The bill mixes cuts to several core economic development programs with targeted increases to workforce training grants. House fiscal’s presentation itemized large reductions: a $16,000,000 cut to the Job Creation Fund (all base funding), a $24,740,000 cut to the Minnesota Investment Fund (all base funding), $2,500,000 per biennium reduction to Greater Minnesota business development public infrastructure grants, and a $4,000,000 base reduction to the CAN Train program. At the same time, staff listed increases…