Senate Finance removes budget language from labor omnibus, sends policy-only bill to floor and moves appropriations to supplemental

The Minnesota Senate Finance Committee on April 27 adopted amendments that remove appropriations and other fiscal provisions from Senate File 23‑73, forwarding a policy‑only version of the labor omnibus to the Senate floor and placing the removed budget items into the omnibus supplemental bill (House File 24‑33).

Sen. Sarah McEwen, sponsor of the labor omnibus, told the committee the bill includes protections for meat and poultry processing workers and a provision from Sen. Dibble to restore a long‑standing “right to sit” for employees whose duties allow seating. McEwen said some provisions with fiscal implications — including the author’s proposals regulating employer use of artificial intelligence — would be removed from SF 23‑73 and handled separately so the policy components can proceed to the floor.

Erica Byrd, a Senate fiscal analyst, walked members through the bill spreadsheet, identifying a 1.0 full‑time equivalent position (a worker‑rights coordinator) tied to prior legislation with an estimated general‑fund cost of $163,000 beginning in fiscal year 2027 and ongoing, and an enforcement/revenue placeholder related to the suitable‑seating provision showing $9,000 in revenue beginning FY2027; Byrd listed the net general‑fund change as $154,000 beginning in 2027.

Carlin Fontaine, Senate counsel for labor, summarized the A28 and A29 amendments adopted by the committee. A28 removes Article 1 (all appropriations) and other finance provisions; A29 removes an additional policy section that committee staff determined required more work. The committee adopted both amendments on voice votes.

Nicole Blissonbach, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, testified she supports DLI’s governor‑recommended policy and budget language included in the bill and asked that funding match the fiscal note if the provisions are carried forward. The commissioner noted the FTE appropriation deleted from SF 23‑73 by A28 is included in the A41 amendment to HF 24‑33 and urged that enforcement funding be provided at the full fiscal‑note amount if the suitable‑seating provision is included.

Sen. Draheim offered an oral amendment to delete lines 1.13–1.14 of A41 (seeking to remove a roughly $200,000 enforcement allocation), arguing his constituents do not prioritize adding enforcement dollars and that existing agency manpower might suffice. McEwen and other supporters said committee testimony and the department’s request justified retaining a modest enforcement allocation and described the adopted amount as a compromise. The oral amendment failed on a voice vote; the A41 amendment to move the appropriations into HF 24‑33 was then adopted and the supplemental bill laid over for further action.

The committee recommended SF 23‑73 as amended and instructed staff to make technical and conforming changes. The chair said Miss Stengel will update the committee memo and that the HF 24‑33 actions will be recorded as Article 13 of the supplemental finance bill.

Committee action on SF 23‑73 removed fiscal items from the policy vehicle and shifted debate over funding and enforcement to the supplemental budget process; DLI officials asked the committee to fund enforcement at the fiscal‑note level if those provisions are included in the supplemental bill.