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Labor & Industry seeks fee alignment, added misclassification staff and teacher apprenticeship funding
Summary
The Department of Labor and Industry presented the governor's budget, proposing construction-fee alignment, 2.5 new FTEs for misclassification enforcement, a pilot statewide registered teacher apprenticeship and clarifications to break laws; the committee laid the bill over after testimony from business and labor groups.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) told the House Workforce Development Finance and Policy Committee that the governor's proposed budget would align construction-permit and inspection fees with the department's costs, add staff for misclassification enforcement, and fund a statewide registered teacher apprenticeship program.
Commissioner Nicole Lisonbee opened the department's presentation by saying the fee alignment is intended "to make those fees align with the cost of providing service and to for the department to be able to continue the current level of service that we provide." DLI staff told the committee many fees have not increased since 2007 and that the construction codes and licensing division operates on fee revenue and currently faces an operational deficit that delays plan review and inspections.
On enforcement, the governor's revised budget would fund 2.5 additional full-time equivalent employees in DLI's labor standards division to support misclassification investigations. Lisonbee said the department has seen a recent rise in misclassification complaints "in mental health and substance abuse centers, health care, construction, transportation, restaurant and food services. So we're seeing this problem more than just in the construction industry and we need more resources to address it." She noted DLI received a $70,000 appropriation last year tied to misclassification but that it does not support a full-time investigator.
DLI also proposed $5 million (FY26) plus a follow-on amount to establish a statewide registered teacher apprenticeship, to be administered through labor entities representing educators and signatory school districts. The department described apprenticeships as a tested approach that can improve recruitment and retention.
Other items in DLI's presentation included an operating adjustment for general fund and workers' compensation fund costs, a proposed update clarifying rest and meal break rules, grants to certified worker organizations (funds to train nursing home workers on related law) and an extension of a previously appropriated study on single-egress stairways.
Stakeholders who testified included Education Minnesota, which supported the teacher-apprenticeship proposal, and industry groups including the Manufactured and Modular Home Association and the Minnesota Electrical and Mechanical Contractors associations, which said they support fee alignment but urged attention to specific provisions such as used-home decals and manufactured-home shipment-label proposals. Mark Bruner of the Manufactured Modular Home Association told the committee his group supports many fee increases but sought changes to elements that could unintentionally require licensure or impose inspection requirements on private home sales.
The committee adopted a DE1 amendment to an earlier bill and laid over House File 2441 for future consideration to allow additional stakeholder work and follow-up with DLI.
