SF 486 Minnesota Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Supplemental energy assistance grant program establishment and appropriation

This bill establishes a state-funded supplemental energy assistance program in Minnesota to help low-income households with heating costs. It directly affects Minnesota residents with household incomes below 60% of the state median income, providing grants for primary heat, crisis situations, emergency heating repairs, or outreach support. Key mechanisms include appropriating one-time state funds for FY2026 (available until 2031), requiring priority for expanding assistance to new households over increasing existing grants, and mandating annual reports on program outcomes by county and demographic factors. The program supplements existing federal LIHEAP benefits for households that did not receive full federal crisis grants or were not served by federal programs.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Mar 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 6 edits · Mar 25, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was updated from an introduction to its first engrossment version, incorporating significant policy changes to expand the supplemental energy assistance program. The primary updates include redefining grant types to distinguish between 'primary energy' and 'crisis' grants, adjusting eligibility thresholds to align with federal LIHEAP models, and increasing administrative funding limits. Additionally, the reporting timeline was shifted to begin in 2028, and the initial appropriation was set for fiscal year 2027.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include cooling costs and to prioritize outreach to underserved communities, while the definition of grant purposes was refined to better align with federal LIHEAP terminology.

DEFINITION

Added specific definitions for 'crisis grant' and 'primary energy grant' to clarify the program's dual purpose of preventing shut-offs and maintaining affordable energy service.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed eligibility criteria to base income limits on the federal LIHEAP Detailed Model Plan rather than a fixed 60 percent of the state median household income.

FISCAL

Increased the allowable administrative funding cap from 10 percent to 12.5 percent of the total appropriation to cover staffing and system costs.

TIMELINE

Adjusted the reporting deadline to begin on January 31, 2028, and extended the availability of appropriated funds until December 31, 2029.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the commissioner to leverage existing LIHEAP application processes and to provide application forms in both paper and electronic formats.

Mandated that annual reports include data broken down by census tract for cities with populations over 30,000 to improve granular tracking of assistance.

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Full legislative history

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Key actions

Committee

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Comm report: To pass as amended and re-refer to Finance

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors