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May 23, 2025
Legislative Update
It’s hard to believe we’re already heading into Memorial Day Weekend, and the 2025 Legislative Session has officially wrapped up. First and foremost, thank you for placing your trust in me to represent our community at the State Capitol. It's a tremendous honor and a responsibility I never take lightly. I know I won’t make everyone happy with every vote, but I always try and do what’s best for our community and Minnesota as a whole.
While the regular session may be over, there is still some work ahead, including a special session. Continue reading for more on that.
Session Update
Although the regular session officially ended on Monday, our work isn’t quite finished. Unfortunately, several key pieces of the state budget remain unresolved. As a result, we’re headed for a special session.
Workgroups, modeled after the conference committees, have been meeting to hammer out the final details on the outstanding budget bills. Because regular session has ended, all bills technically need to be reintroduced. The good news is, agreements are already being finalized, so once the governor officially calls us back, we expect to suspend the rules and move the bills quickly through the process. As it stands, special session is likely to begin sometime next week.
Your Voice Matters
I want to thank everyone who took the time to reach out and share their concerns over the past few months and to everyone who participated my constituent priorities survey. Your feedback has played an important role in guiding my work in St. Paul. If you haven’t yet had the chance and would like to add your voice to the conversation, the survey is still open. You can find the survey here. Your voice matters.
In the survey, we asked people to pick their top three issues they’d like to see addressed at the Capitol. Here’s the top three most selected topics and how we addressed them this year.
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Lowering Property Taxes (43.5%): Our budget works to eliminate many of the cost shifts to local counties that were part of Governor Walz’s budget proposal, which could have caused property tax increases as high as 20% in some parts of the state. While the final bill’s details are still being worked on in conference committee, we are working to keep cost shifts out of the final version. In addition, the agreed upon joint budget targets notably include no new taxes on Minnesota families, which is a win for everyone.
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Eliminating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Government (37.9%): This session, we took real steps to crack down on fraud and restore accountability. We passed laws that ban kickbacks, strengthen fraud detection, and require grant managers to be properly trained. We also introduced legislation to create an independent Office of the Inspector General to investigate state agencies, free from political interference. While the Senate passed it with overwhelming bipartisan support, 60-7, and the governor has pledged to sign it, House Democrats unfortunately chose politics over progress, stalling this critical measure. We are still working to get this bill passed during special session.
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Increasing Education Funding (36.3%): We delivered meaningful wins for local schools. Our update to school consolidation aid boosts per-pupil funding, directly benefiting districts like Wrenshall. We also protected funding for non-public schools and successfully blocked nearly $680 million in proposed education cuts from the governor’s original budget. Most importantly, we redirected $150 million to flexible aid, giving schools the power to use funds where they’re needed most instead of forcing them to comply with over 65 unfunded mandates like we saw last biennium.
While we did see some success on these priorities, there is still more work to be done. I will be keeping these priorities, and the others you have highlighted, in mind during special session and into the 2026 legislative session. Thank you for your participation, and for staying involved.
Happy Memorial Day
As we gather with loved ones this weekend, let’s remember that Memorial Day is more than the unofficial start of summer. It’s a time to reflect on the brave men and women who gave their lives defending the freedoms we enjoy every day. Their sacrifice reminds us that liberty is never free, and that we are forever indebted to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
May we honor them not only with our words, but with how we live, serve, and care for one another.
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God bless,
-Jeff
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Contact Me
If I can ever be of assistance to you, feel free to reach out. I encourage everyone to bring up concerns, thoughts, and ideas so that I may better represent your interests and those of our community in St. Paul. You can email me at Rep.Jeff.Dotseth@house.mn.gov, or call me at 651.296.4243. Mail can be sent to the address below.
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Please visit my personal legislative website at www.house.mn for the latest news and information. |
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