Today the Senate passed an Energy and Environment budget bill that will impose costly, burdensome new regulations on Minnesotans and small businesses; grow government bureaucracy; and make life more expensive. Some improvements were made by Republican amendments to protect taxpayers, support Minnesota mining jobs, and modernize fishing and hunting licenses.  

ENERGY BILL RAISES ENERGY COSTS, LOWERS RELIABILITY 

“The Democrat Energy bill will make Minnesota’s energy future more expensive yet less reliable,” said Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton), lead Republican of the Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee. “Instead of helping Minnesotans afford the energy they require in their daily lives, Democrats are sending tax cuts to wealthy people who can already afford to buy their electric vehicles. This legislation turns a blind eye to the needs of Minnesotans, and instead, steers our state toward an even more unreliable and unfair energy future.”   

 Notable provisions of the Energy bill: 

• Requires electric vehicles (EVs) to be purchased by the state at a higher rate 
• Mandates dealers to have certain training for EVs 

• Increases utility deployment of electric school buses and makes them pay for it via rate increases 
• Requires the utilities to have a transportation electrification plan and to pay for it via rate increases 
• Establishes a ‘Green Bank,’ which is designed to lend out money for green energy projects 
• Requires commercial buildings to document their energy usage information and share the data 

Republicans successfully added several amendments to protect taxpayers and encourage investment in Minnesota, including amendments to: 

• Require a report on ratepayer impact and reliability of carbon-free standards 
• Prioritize products that are mined, produced, or assembled in Minnesota for the Buy Clean/Buy Fair Act, which requires the use of ‘clean’ building materials 
• Place a lower income cap on those eligible for electric vehicle rebates, to make sure they are going to people who need them the most 
• Require a report on having an exemption to carbon free standards for biodiesel fuel being used at peaking plants 
• Prohibit the use of slave labor in clean energy technology 
• Ensure that half of community solar subscribers are individuals, so they are not overtaken by out-of-state landowners or businesses 
• Exempt wood waste and wood chips from Renewable Energy Standards by considering them as biomass 

Other accepted amendments include: giving municipal and co-op energy providers an off-ramp to ensure affordable energy; limit taxpayer dollars from being used for EV rebates to wealthier Minnesotans; improving an existing “Buy Clean, Buy Fair” provision to prioritize Minnesota-mined materials and support Minnesota jobs; prevented the use of clean energy technologies that come from countries known to use slave labor. 

During the floor debate, Republicans offered other solutions to ensure affordable, reliable, and always-on energy for Minnesotans. Democrats, however, refused to accept most proposed changes. Several amendments that would give money back to ratepayers and prevent consumers from paying costly increases were rejected, including: 

• Return ratepayer dollars from the Renewable Development Account to ensure Minnesotans can better afford their rising utility costs  
• Help low-income Minnesotans already struggling with utility costs afford the increases they will see on their bills as a result of Democrat policies 

• Protects taxpayers from out-of-control costs by suspending the Blackout Bill when inflation increases by more than double in any given year 
• Provide a clear and ready off-ramp to the strict schedule outlined in the Democrats’ Blackout Bill to ensure Minnesotans can continue to have access to affordable and reliable energy 
• Protect taxpayer dollars from being sent to businesses with little or no track record through a ‘Green Bank’  

Finally, amendment that would increase carbon-free energy by allowing nuclear energy to be a part of Minnesota’s energy mix was rejected. However, the bill did include a study to examine the future of small nuclear in Minnesota.  

ENVIRONMENT BILL PRIORITIZES BUREAUCRACY, NOT MINNESOTANS 

“We have a long bipartisan tradition in this state of protecting and caring for the outdoors,” said Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids), lead Republican on the Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee. “Unfortunately, instead of prioritizing our amazing natural resources, Democrats created a bill that will hurt farmers, hurt families, and hurt small businesses, while empowering bureaucrats and government. It spends huge amounts of taxpayer dollars while making it harder for taxpayers across the state to enjoy our natural resources.” 

The bill includes aggressive restrictions on PFAS, a chemical found in countless everyday products such as cookware, floss, carpets, clothing, makeup, air fresheners, baby car seats, solar panels and building materials, and more. Other states that have banned PFAS have allowed numerous exceptions for products like these. It implements onerous new boating restrictions, including a requirement that everyone born after 1987 retake a boating safety class, and mandates that resorts and watercraft rental businesses administer and enforce the new restrictions.  

In a controversial move that surprised local communities, the bill would give Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community after significant investment by the state to improve the park, . The bill grows government with hundreds of new state employees, and grants expansive powers to multiple commissioners and state agencies, including the Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Health.  

Senate Republicans successfully added several amendments to improve the Environment bill, including: 

• Require the Department of Natural Resources to offer paperless hunting and fishing licenses 
• Enshrine “Minnesota is a mining friendly state” in state law, as a reminder of how important mining is to our state 
• Lift the rifle prohibition for deer hunting in southern Minnesota, so most deer hunters are treated uniformly 
• Protect deer farmers from liability if their deer escape due to vandalism, destruction by a third party, or natural disaster 

Senate Republicans offered several other amendments to improve the Environment bill, but they were rejected. Among them are amendments that would:   

• Protect the Boundary Waters from wildfires and manage invasive species by allowing the DNR to do prescribed burning 

• Require state agencies to disclose the source of minerals in wind and solar purchases, to ensure those minerals are not coming from conflict areas 
• Prevent the further spread of Asian Carp in the Mississippi River