County lobbyists brief board on 2026 session gains and budget pressures

Tony Albright and Courtney Jasper, county legislative representatives, gave the board a broad recap of the 2026 legislative session and how it affects Carver County.

Jasper summarized the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act: the final human-services bill allocated $15 million statewide, with a minimum allocation formula that provides at least $100,000 per county; Jasper said the program will go statewide on Jan. 1, 2027, and that Carver County’s preliminary share could be about $213,000 though additional county costs remain possible. "Hennepin and Ramsey went through $5,000,000 very quickly," she cautioned, and said counties may need to return next session to request more funds.

Albright and Jasper also highlighted a bipartisan appropriation intended to modernize human-services IT systems; the appropriation includes a multi-year funding stream and initial investments to reduce program error rates that strain county operations. The briefing covered bonding outcomes, targeted grants (including wastewater infrastructure awards) and items that did not pass, such as certain housing preemption measures and changes to deputy-registrar funding.

Commissioners used the update to press for clearer fiscal implications at the county level. Several said they expect state-driven program expansions and shifting costs will increase demands on county budgets and potentially require a levy surcharge or other local responses. Jasper said some funding was intended to be formula-driven and that the full local fiscal picture may require future legislative requests.