MN Legislature passes tab fee reductions, bonding bill, HCMC rescue, and more in clean end to 2026 session

ST. PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) – Minnesota’s legislature tied a neat bow on a jam-packed weekend on Sunday, passing several high-priority bills in the final hours of the 2026 legislative session.

Sunday night’s midnight deadline loomed over the House and Senate as they brushed right up against the constitutionally mandated end of the session as both the House and Senate adjourned sine die at midnight.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a session that’s as productive and like this one, and so I think there’s a lot to be proud of,” said House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson.

“We have clearly not agreed on everything. Sometimes it felt like nothing, and yet we still got the work done well, and we got it done on time,” said GOP Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth.

Some of the last bills to pass were those most crucial to the House and Senate’s bipartisan deal that was struck last week.

HCMC and Hospital Relief

Both the House and Senate managed to pass a Health and Human Services bill that included a $205 million emergency funding injection to the Hennepin County Medical Center, or HCMC.

HCMC, the state’s largest trauma hospital, has been vocal about a funding crisis that could have forced closure if unaddressed; the new legislation sets up a reserve account for the hospital to help them navigate financial difficulties related to rising uncompensated care costs.

The same bill also sets up a stabilization fund for other state hospitals facing similar issues.

Bonding and License Registration Fee Relief

The legislature passed a $1.2 billion bonding bill on the final night of the session.

While not perfect in the eyes of every lawmaker, many members appeared pleased with the final product. Highlights of the bill include:

• $180M toward MnDOT for road and highway maintenance
• $154M for the Department of Employment and Economic Development
• $420M for water treatment projects in communities across the state

In addition to new bonding projects, the bonding bill also pulls $254 million to help offset a two-year reduction in license registration fees.

Property Tax Relief

In addition to other major tax policy changes, the Tax Bill allocates $125 million for a homestead tax refund that taxpayers can file for in the upcoming tax year.

Despite loud and passionate calls from the DFL to pass gun control legislation and a relief package for businesses impacted by Operation Metro Surge, the bills were unable to garner the support needed to appear on the House floor.

“The session ends with a few major disappointments, including our failure to act on gun violence in a meaningful way, and our failure to take actions to curb abuses of ICE,” said Stephenson.

DFL members engaged in a 36-hour sit-in from Thursday night through Saturday morning, urging House Speaker Lisa Demuth to allow a floor vote on a bill that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the state.

Demuth maintains that the multiple procedural votes that aimed to force a vote on the bill served the same purpose as a vote itself.

“Gun provisions were voted on in the House eight times, starting back in committee... and then there were three urgencies taken up on the House floor that also failed. So, to say that votes were not taken is very misleading,” she said.

DFL Leader Zack Stephenson appeared disappointed that the House was neither able to vote on nor pass firearm legislation this year. He and others said they’ll continue to push the issue through the midterm elections and into next year’s legislative session.

“House DFLers will take that message on the campaign trail this summer and fall. We will win the majority, and we will pass those bills into law in 2027,” he said.

Most of the bills passed on Sunday will still need to be signed by the Governor to become law. The Minnesota legislature will not convene again, unless for a special session, until 2027.

Both the House and Senate are up for re-election in November.