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Committee hears bipartisan bill to fund construction‑industry mental‑health initiatives; bill laid over
Summary
Lawmakers and construction industry and union leaders urged $500,000 per year to fund outreach, stigma reduction and site strategies for construction workers’ mental health. Supporters described an industry alliance and said suicide rates in construction are markedly higher than workplace fatalities.
The committee heard House File 2468, a bipartisan bill that would appropriate $500,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $500,000 in fiscal year 2027 to the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to convene stakeholders and fund mental‑health education, outreach and work‑site strategies aimed at the construction industry.
Joel Smith, President and Business Manager for LiUNA Minnesota‑North Dakota, testified that construction workers face unusually high suicide rates and multiple work‑related stressors, including employment instability, travel, and financial pressure. Smith said his union’s health fund now offers an employee assistance program with eight free visits annually and called for industrywide measures to destigmatize mental‑health help.
Tim Wirke, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota, said construction workers are now “five times more likely today to die by suicide in construction than you are from a job site related accident.” He described a new, tripartite Minnesota Construction Mental Health Alliance—labor, contractors and project owners—intended to embed mental‑health practices into industry culture.
Representative Nelson, the bill sponsor, said the proposal draws on prior bipartisan efforts to address agricultural mental‑health needs and seeks similar, occupation‑specific support for construction. Members from both parties expressed support and described local experience of recent deaths by suicide in trade communities. The committee laid the bill over for further consideration.
