Higher Education Committee adopts DE2 and forwards House File 2431 to Ways and Means

The Minnesota House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee adopted a DE2 amendment and re-referred House File 2431 to the House Ways and Means Committee to meet legislative deadlines.

Committee leaders said the DE2 is Representative Hill's bill concerning amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and described it as a "zero target" amendment that aligns with the committee's budget target, allowing the panel to use that language as a vehicle to move money forward. "The DE2 is a bill that is actually, Representative Hill's bill about ALS, and it is a 0 target bill that matches our target. So we're just moving some money, which is why we're using this bill," the committee chair said during the meeting.

Members agreed to move the vehicle bill and the DE2 so the committee can meet its filing deadlines. The chair said staff will need time to reconcile changes the Senate made to the structure of the bill; once staff prepare the revised bill language and spreadsheets, the committee will hold a full hearing when it reconvenes, followed by a second hearing with markup. "We're going to move this out as a vehicle to comply with the deadlines that we have. And when we get back from break, we will have full conversation about the bill. We'll have it posted for the public when it's ready," the chair said in response to a clarifying question from Representative Coulter.

Procedural actions taken at the meeting included moving an earlier House file to be considered before the committee, moving the DE2 in front of the committee, adopting the DE2, and then moving that House File 2431, as amended, be re-referred to the Ways and Means Committee. Committee members adopted the DE2 by voice vote and later approved sending House File 2431 to Ways and Means by voice vote; the meeting transcript records voice votes but does not provide roll-call tallies. The chair also noted the committee would not approve minutes at this session, citing a few errors to be corrected at the next meeting.

The committee emphasized that the bill language and supporting spreadsheets will be posted publicly before the committee reconvenes and will be available for amendment at that later hearing. No final programmatic or funding details beyond the committee's description that the DE2 is a zero-target, ALS-related adjustment were provided in the meeting record.

The meeting lasted only a few minutes and concluded after the motions carried and no further questions were raised.