Committee sends MHEFA expansion bill to General Register after committee vote

Representative Ben Bonner presented House File 11 65 to expand the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority’s scope to include health care and senior living projects, rename the authority the Minnesota Health and Education Facilities Authority (retaining the MHEFA acronym), and increase its financing capacity.

Bonner said MHEFA is self-funded, charges lower fees, and poses no cost to the state budget. Barry Fick, the authority’s executive director, told the committee the agency currently has about $1.2 billion outstanding and last year’s expansion increased its bonding capacity to $2 billion; he said the authority has roughly $80 million of financing in place for the remainder of 2025. Fick also emphasized the authority’s “0 default rate in over 50 years.”

Committee questions focused on scope and oversight. Representative Robbins asked whether entities financed under the expanded authority would need to be licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health; Fick said the definition of health care facilities in the bill was developed with the Department of Health and that the entity would work with MDH to ensure compliance with state requirements. Members also asked about the bill’s guardrails; Representative Cleburne and others pointed to added language (lines 10.12–10.18, 11.18–11.22 in the bill packet) intended to require municipal consent and provide other checks.

Action and outcome: Chair Wolgamott moved to send the bill to the General Register; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and House File 11 65 was sent to the General Register.

Why supporters said it is needed: proponents argued that the authority can provide lower-cost tax-exempt financing to nonprofit healthcare and senior-living projects that otherwise lack access to public bonding, and that the authority’s vetting process and municipal consent requirements provide protections.

Outstanding issues: several members expressed concern about whether certain entities (for example adult day services or board-and-lodging establishments) require explicit licensing and whether the authority’s financing should be limited to projects with clear regulatory oversight; proponents pointed to language added in the bill packet and to departmental coordination with MDH.

Next steps: the bill was sent to the General Register and may advance to floor consideration with additional technical changes or guardrails.