House Republicans press for referendums, adjustments to sales-tax omnibus during Senate briefing

House Republican members used the Senate briefing to present their own list of city-level local-sales-tax proposals and to explain modifications they would make if the House moves forward. The exchange was framed as information-sharing rather than formal negotiation between chambers.

A House Republican lawmaker read through a set of House-file numbers that largely overlap with the Senate list and said the House proposals insert referendums and, in some cases, modify project descriptions or impose caps where the Senate bills do not. The speaker stressed that where a proposal lacked a referendum in the Senate file, the House version would add one or otherwise require voter approval.

The House representative also identified multiple specific items that the House had heard, including Alexandria, Audubon, Baxter, Caledonia and others, and noted several modifications (for example, removing a golf-course project in Edina from the House list and adding referendum language in other files). The speaker repeatedly framed the approach as giving local voters the decisive role: "Let the people vote," they said while describing the House Republican preference for referendums.

Senate members and staff welcomed the comparison and said they would write down the House list to verify which items had been heard in their chambers. The briefing produced no formal changes to the omnibus text; committee staff and members agreed to continue interchamber coordination to reconcile differences and identify items requiring further review before floor action.

Next steps: House and Senate staff will compare lists and determine which city proposals align or need modification; the committee agreed to meet again to reconcile outstanding issues.