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2024 Legislative Agenda

2024 Legislative Agenda

Issue: Electronic Waste

 

Lutheran Advocacy-MN is joining other organizations to pass legislation that would…

 

  • Change the definition of e-waste to include any device covered by electricity (This is a broad and flexible definition, which covers any device into the future, including those not yet conceived of)

    • Exceptions

  1. Lead acid batteries (a car battery buyback program already exists, resulting in a 95% recovery rate)

  2. Electronic Vehicles & Infrastructure (recycled by a different process and different stakeholders)

  3. White Waste – Refrigerators, washers, dryers

  • Provide free accessible drop-off or collection of e-waste statewide for residents AND businesse

  • Collect fees at the point of sale of electronic items (3-4% of item cost) to cover collection costs including disposal, shipping, up to two employees per collector, and an additional incentive per pound.

 

Issue: Affordable Housing

 

As part of the Homes for All Coalition, Lutheran Advocacy-MN continues to work for

  • Investments for new housing production and housing rehabilitation, whether through new direct funding or housing bonds (which can leverage $3.00 to $4.00 of private and other funds, for each dollar designated by the state),

  • More funding for safe shelters,

  • Emergency Rental Assistance (to keep people/households from losing current housing)

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2023 Session Results

End of Legislative Session: I’m not sure there has ever been a year quite like this one. Usually, we’re playing defense on several issues to prevent cuts, while proactively working on some broad items that can take years to get passed adequately. This year everything was happening at once, including new items related to our issues that came out of nowhere. It was crazy!!

 

Clean Energy: Following rapid passage in 2023 of a new Clean Energy Standard on which LA-MN worked for many years, our focus shifted. Concerted advocacy efforts with partners played meaningful roles in creating a State Competitiveness Fund ($190 million) for federal program matches, and final spending bill inclusion of state emission goal updates & a new Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority for clean energy economy energy transition ($45 million).

 

Affordable Housing: LA-MN worked closely with Settled and JRLC to pass Sacred Tiny Home Community legislation, changing zoning laws to allow faith-community hosting for people who have experienced chronic homelessness and “Good Neighbor” volunteers. Other Homes for All (H4A) agenda items over several years passed, including rental/eviction reforms. With other H4A partners, we helped generate broad statewide grassroots support for significant housing investments - budget passage included more than $1 billion (much 1x spending from the surplus) for new housing construction, rehabilitation, and preservation; rental assistance; down-payment assistance for new low-income or BIPOC homebuyers; and $100 million for homeless shelter creation.

 

*Find our 2023 long Legislative Summary here (Can you sense the magnitude of last year’s accomplishments?).

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