House committee lays over bill to fund Minnesota Centers for Independent Living after testimonies highlight cost savings and life changes

State Representative (bill sponsor) presented House File 1326 on funding for Minnesota's eight Centers for Independent Living and the House Labor Committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the budget process.

The bill would continue recurring funding for the Centers for Independent Living, which the sponsor described as statutory nonprofits that provide training, job coaching and services intended to help people with disabilities live independently. Fiscal staff told the committee the current base budget for the centers is $6,000,000 for the FY2026–27 biennium; the sponsor and witnesses said the proposal would increase recurring funding to match prior one‑time appropriations.

The centers, represented in the hearing by Jesse Bethke Gomez, executive director of Metropolitan Center for Independent Living, and testifiers who said they benefited from center services, stressed both human and budgetary impacts. Jesse Bethke Gomez said the centers are "a statutory nonprofit" structure with…