Rep. Rick Hansen

Maddy summaryThis bill increases penalties for impersonating a police officer in Minnesota. It upgrades the base offense to a felony (up to 2 years in jail or $4,000 fine) and creates a new crime for impersonating while carrying a firearm (up to 10 years in jail or $20,000 fine). The bill also requires anyone pretending to be a law enforcement officer to identify themselves when asked and imposes harsher penalties if they commit other crimes while impersonating an officer (e.g., a misdemeanor becomes a gross misdemeanor). It directly affects individuals who falsely pose as police officers, including those using fake uniforms, vehicle markings, or equipment to mimic law enforcement.

Maddy summaryHF 3467 allows Minnesota's Commissioner of Veterans Affairs to redirect agency resources toward specific veterans' initiatives, including addressing food insecurity, homelessness, and suicide prevention. The bill requires the commissioner to submit an annual report by October 15 to the governor and relevant legislative committees, detailing resources used and the critical issues supported in the previous year. This legislation directly affects veterans by enabling targeted support for urgent needs through state agency resources. It creates a formal mechanism for tracking how funds and resources are allocated to veterans' programs. The bill is currently in its initial legislative stage, having been introduced on February 19, 2026.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Minnesota's organized retail theft law to explicitly include gift card fraud as a form of retail theft. It defines "retail merchandise" to cover all gift cards (both physical and digital) and specifies that the "value" of stolen gift cards includes their full face value. Retailers and law enforcement will now have a clearer legal framework for prosecuting gift card fraud under existing organized retail theft statutes. The change takes effect August 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHF 3718 amends Minnesota's veterinary medicine statutes by adding and updating key definitions. It creates a new definition for "accredited program of veterinary technology" (requiring AVMA-CVTEA accreditation) and expands "animal" to include fish and reptiles (removing poultry exclusions). The bill also adds definitions for terms like "consulting," "consent," "dispensing," "donor," "emergency stabilization," and "extra-label use" to clarify veterinary practice standards. These changes primarily affect licensed veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and veterinary practices by standardizing terminology in the state's regulatory framework. The bill does not impose new practice requirements but refines existing legal definitions.

Maddy summaryThis bill proposes a constitutional amendment to modify how Minnesota's permanent school fund is invested, managed, and distributed to school districts. The key change would require the fund to be managed as a perpetual resource that preserves its purchasing power over time while providing annual distributions to support schools without raising individual taxes. The amendment establishes a board of investment led by the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, and attorney general, and prohibits the use of state funds to underwrite municipal securities. If approved by voters in 2026, the new policy would take effect on July 1, 2027, with specific rules for calculating distributable amounts and handling investment gains and losses.

Maddy summaryHF 3426 appropriates $103.288 million from Minnesota's environment and natural resources trust fund for fiscal year 2027 to fund community resilience and environmental protection projects. Key provisions include $3.3 million for AmeriCorps environmental projects, $468,000 for developing sustainable land-use ordinances, $612,000 for climate-resilient community spaces, $1.22 million for a regional climate plan in northeast and central Minnesota, and $2.6 million to protect community forests from emerald ash borer. These funds will support state agencies, local communities, Tribal nations, and nonprofits in implementing climate adaptation initiatives. The bill also extends certain prior appropriations, though specific extensions are not detailed in the provided text.

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits the state Public Utilities Commission from issuing route permits for carbon dioxide pipelines that are longer than 1,000 feet or that cross, go under, or pass through public waters. It directly affects companies seeking to build or operate these pipelines in Minnesota by requiring them to obtain a permit for any project, while simultaneously banning applications for exemptions from standard route selection procedures. The legislation defines a carbon dioxide pipeline as any line transporting the substance in liquid, gaseous, or supercritical states within the state and sets these specific restrictions into law immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new Office of Business Regulation and Land Ownership within Minnesota's Department of Agriculture. The office will investigate monopolies and consolidation in agriculture-related businesses, such as those producing food, seeds, and chemicals, while also tracking how agricultural land is being bought by individuals, corporations, and other organizations. To carry out these tasks, the office will employ a director with expertise in antitrust and property law, along with staff including lawyers and economists, and must submit biennial reports to state legislators. The legislation also authorizes funding from the state's general budget to establish and operate this new office.

Maddy summarySF 476 expands Minnesota's medical assistance program to cover "care evaluations" - face-to-face assessments to develop or update home care plans (excluding personal care). It modifies payment rates for homemaker services, home health agencies, and home care nursing. The bill directly affects home care recipients (including seniors and people with disabilities) and the providers delivering these services. Key changes include adding care evaluations to covered services and requiring county public health nurses to conduct certain assessments and updates. All provisions take effect January 1, 2026, or after federal approval.

Maddy summaryThis bill strengthens Minnesota's regulations on the handling of infectious or pathological waste by requiring immediate notification when such waste is mistakenly sent to unapproved facilities, mandating unannounced inspections of waste generators, and establishing significant financial penalties for violations. Facilities that receive infectious waste must report the incident to state officials with details about the waste and its source, while generators must conduct annual internal audits to ensure compliance with management plans. Penalties for unlawful transport start at $200,000 for a first offense and increase to up to $2 million for subsequent violations, with half of collected fines directed to the facility that received the waste. The legislation also allocates $50,000 to create training materials for proper waste management and disposal practices.