Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Commerce Policy Omnibus topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Department of Commerce outlines technical and model-law changes in HF 2,403 policy omnibus; committee lays bill over for markup
Summary
The Department of Commerce testified in support of the Commerce Committee’s policy omnibus, House File 2,403, outlining changes ranging from mortgage indexing and insurance model acts to data-call protections and updates to financial and trade provisions. The committee laid the DE amendment over for member questions and markup at a later meeting.
Chair O'Driscoll moved House File 2,403 before the committee on April 2 and opened the DE amendment for public testimony and a nonpartisan walk-through.
Sam Smith, Government Affairs Director for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, testified in support of HF 2,403, saying the omnibus contains multiple Department priorities, including changes to mortgage indexing, adoption of NAIC model laws for limited long-term care and group capital/liquidity, and updated statutory references for insurance and banking matters. "Key items in this legislation include policy changes around mortgage indexing, which replaces a defunct benchmark index," Smith said. He told the committee that group capital and liquidity provisions must be adopted by Jan. 1, 2026, for Minnesota to meet NAIC accreditation standards.
Nonpartisan committee staff provided an article-by-article outline in the DE amendment. The DE as described includes: Article 1 (financial institutions) — items on maximum interest rates, mortgage index replacement, and the Uniform Special Deposits Act; Article 2 (insurance) — changes tied to the Minnesota Insurance Guarantee Association and policy delivery requirements; Article 3 (limited long-term care NAIC model act and Minnesota automobile insurance plan); Article 4 (insurance holding company systems and changes to chapter 60D); Article 5 (modifications to the Minnesota Business Corporations Act); Article 6 (updated garnishment forms directed by 2024 law); and Article 7 (miscellaneous commerce provisions such as data calls, gasoline testing cross-references, safety-deposit box rules, manufacturer participation in auto shows, and expedited rulemaking authority).
Smith told the committee the DE would allow the department to protect proprietary or trade-secret material when issuing data calls, and that provisions would stabilize the Minnesota Automobile Insurance Plan (APSO) and allow APSO to issue policies directly in certain circumstances. No members of the public had signed up to testify on HF 2,403; the committee laid the DE over for markup and member questions at a subsequent meeting.
Formal committee action on HF 2,403 on April 2 was limited to laying the bill over; no final votes on policy were taken.
