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Senate committee approves repeal of donation-deed authority for tax-forfeited land
Summary
The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee voted to pass House Bill 13-99 and House Bill 11-21, removing statutory donation-deed authorities that allowed the Commissioner of State Lands to donate tax-forfeited parcels to cities or for low-income housing after a property went unsold.
The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee on an apparent voice vote approved two bills that would remove language allowing the Commissioner of State Lands to donate tax-forfeited parcels to cities or for low-income housing.
House Bill 13-99, introduced by Senator Gary Stubblefield, would repeal the statute authorizing “urban homestead” donation deeds. Stubblefield said the change responds to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and an opinion from the state Attorney General that found the donation process could deny a former owner the opportunity to recover excess proceeds. “This house bill 13 99, deals with the urban homestead donation deed, repealed,” Stubblefield said in committee.
Kelly Boyd, deputy commissioner of state lands, told the committee that the office already stopped using donation deeds after the court decision and an AG opinion. Boyd described the current process for tax-forfeited parcels: properties go first to a live auction, then, if unsold, to a post-auction inventory and later to a negotiated sale after two years. Boyd said that if a parcel sells for more than the taxes owed, the former owner may petition for “excess proceeds,” and that a donation deed would eliminate that possibility. “If we give it, we would not charge for it. So there is no possibility you're going to be able to get any excess proceeds,” Boyd said.
Committee members pressed on scope and consequences. Senator Blake Peyton and others asked whether the repeal would preclude all donations and whether parcels could still be sold; Boyd answered that parcels can still be sold at auction and that the bills remove only the donation option that would foreclose excess-proceeds claims. Peyton and other senators also raised concerns that donation deeds have occasionally benefited communities; Boyd said the practice has been rare in recent years and provided counts to illustrate frequency.
The committee registered the motion to pass HB 13-99 (mover: Senator Peyton; second: Senator Sullivan) and proceeded without a roll-call tally; the committee chair announced the bill passed. The committee then considered House Bill 11-21, which committee members described as addressing the same donation-deed issue for regular donation deeds rather than the urban-homestead-specific deed. HB 11-21 received a similar motion and voice approval.
Votes at the committee were by voice; the transcript records motions and seconders but does not include numeric roll-call tallies. Committee discussion and an AG opinion were cited as the primary rationale for removing donation authorities from statute.
Members and staff said the practical effect is to eliminate statutory pathways that could prevent former owners from seeking excess proceeds. Committee records include the Attorney General’s opinion and references to Tyler v. Hennepin County, which committee members and staff said guided their assessment of constitutional risk.
The committee advanced both bills to the next legislative stage.
