SF 775 Minnesota Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Ombudsperson for safety, health, and well-being of agricultural and food processing workers establishment

SF 775 establishes a new ombudsperson position within Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development to support agricultural and food processing workers. The ombudsperson will help workers address workplace safety, housing, and fair labor issues by taking complaints, connecting them to services, and analyzing systemic problems. They must post verified complaints online and submit annual reports to the legislature detailing their work. This bill directly affects Minnesota's agricultural and food processing workers, who often face challenges in these areas.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 30, 2025 Last action Feb 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 6 edits · Feb 20, 2025

MODERATE

The bill has progressed from its initial introduction to its first engrossment, updating the title and posting date to reflect legislative activity. Substantive changes include clarifying the ombudsperson's duties to be performed 'as needed,' expanding the annual report requirements to include financial expenditures and recommendations, and adding a requirement to file reports with the Legislative Reference Library.

Scope change

The scope of the ombudsperson's reporting obligations has been broadened to include financial transparency and formal filing with the state library, while the definition of the ombudsperson's activities has been clarified.

REQUIREMENT

The ombudsperson's duties were clarified from 'deemed necessary' to 'as needed to carry out this section' to provide clearer guidance on their operational scope.

The annual report now requires the inclusion of a description of all expenditures, increasing financial transparency.

The ombudsperson must now report recommendations for legislative or policy changes, adding a proactive policy feedback mechanism.

Reports must now be filed with the Legislative Reference Library in addition to being sent to legislative committee chairs.

The list of legislative recipients for the annual report was expanded to include ranking minority members of the relevant committees.

TECHNICAL

New sections 4.30, 4.31, and 4.32 were added to the bill text, likely containing further statutory provisions.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

Comm report: To pass as amended and re-refer to Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development

upper

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

Referred to Jobs and Economic Development

upper

Jan 30, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors