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Panel backs bill to align Minnesota state active-duty pay with federal pay tables

Minnesota Senate Subcommittee on Veterans · April 9, 2026

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Summary

The veterans subcommittee recommended Senate File 4807 to pass after testimony from the Department of Military Affairs and National Guard leadership; the bill would amend Minnesota Statute 192.49 to set the state active-duty minimum base pay at the federal E-5 pay grade and tie future changes to federal pay-table updates, with an estimated open-appropriation impact of about $30,000 annually.

The Minnesota Senate subcommittee on veterans recommended Senate File 4807 to pass Wednesday, advancing a bill that would modify Minnesota Statute 192.49 to align the state active-duty minimum base pay with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) pay tables.

Scott Roeeder, executive director of the Department of Military Affairs, told the committee the bill would simplify statutory language and raise the minimum base pay for lower enlisted pay grades (E-1 through E-4) to the base pay attached to grade E-5, and then allow future automatic adjustments to follow DFAS updates and cost-of-living adjustments. "This bill would increase the base pay for the lowest ranking members... to the base pay of the grade E-5 and would continue to adjust in concert with DFAS pay tables," Roeeder said.

Major General Sean Mackey, speaking for the Minnesota National Guard, asked for support and cited the Guard’s recent activations in state emergencies and community missions. "We live by the motto, always ready, always there," Mackey said, urging the panel to back measures that support soldiers and airmen.

Committee members probed the fiscal effects. Witnesses and counsel explained the change would not alter the DMA’s base agency budget; instead, it would be implemented through the state’s open general-fund emergency appropriation process used for activations. Counsel and DMA witnesses estimated a routine annual impact of roughly $30,000 under current activation patterns but said actual expenditures would vary with the number and duration of activations and be reconciled through appropriations processes.

The subcommittee approved amendments to include other veterans measures (including SF4172 and SF4026) into SF4807 and then voted to recommend SF4807, as amended, to the full committee.