A local government policy bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley) was considered on May 1 by the Minnesota House.
"I'd like to pretend that there's a coherent theme to this bill," Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley) said. "That the provisions of this bill meld together seamlessly to form a perfect distillation of a brilliant response to the most critical policy issue of our time, but it's really just a bunch of random bills thrown together."
This bill had bipartisan 132-0 support and passed.
Among other things, the bill classifies members of the Metropolitan Council appointed by the governor as "public officials."
The bill also grants public water and sewer districts the ability to install water and sewer lines and all other ancillary infrastructure within a public road right-of-way. Other utilities can already do this.
The bill addresses public notices in the newspaper. The bill adds a stipulation that if no qualified newspaper is available for publication of a public notice, the political subdivision must post the information on their website and on the Minnesota Newspaper Association's statewide public notice website until another qualified newspaper is identified. During the time when no qualified newspaper is available, there is no additional cost to the political subdivision.
The bill would allow cities the option of establishing a public utilities commission with three, five or seven members with staggered terms.
Finally, the bill requires cities to provide a link to the attorney general’s office website for an electronic version of the landlord-tenant guide upon issuance or renewal of a rental license.
After a few amendments, the omnibus bill passed. HR 2098's companion bill, SF 3148, is moving through the Senate and was last referred to the Transportation Committee on April 1.
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