ST. PAUL – Today the Senate passed an Energy and Environment budget agreement that will impose costly, burdensome new regulations on Minnesotans and small businesses; grow government bureaucracy; and make life more expensive. 

ENERGY BILL RAISES ENERGY COSTS, LOWERS RELIABILITY 
 

The energy portion of the bill will lead to higher costs for Minnesota consumers and make the state’s energy future more expensive yet less reliable. Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going to wealthy individuals for their electric vehicles, while at the same time, the legislation drives up costs for buildings, roads and bridges.  
 
“The Democrat Energy bill fails to ensure a sustainable, affordable energy outlook for Minnesota,” said Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton), lead Republican of the Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee. “This hyper-partisan legislation will not protect Minnesota consumers from the costs of the Democrats’ Blackout Bill. Instead of helping Minnesotans afford the energy they require in their daily lives, Democrats are favoring tax cuts and rebates for wealthy people who can already afford to buy their electric vehicles. At the end of the day, this bill puts Minnesota on the path to an even more unreliable and unfair energy future.”  
 
This bill has many mandates that require utilities to raise rates on consumers. It requires utilities to have a transportation electrification plan, which Minnesota consumers will also pay for through higher rates. It also includes a provision that increases utility deployment of electric school buses and makes them partially pay for it through rate increases.   
 
When this legislation was first heard by the Senate, Republicans successfully added language to protect taxpayers and encourage investment in Minnesota. The vast majority of this language was stripped in conference committee. The provisions removed include:  

• Examine the future of advanced nuclear reactors in Minnesota through a feasibility study  
• Provide additional off-ramps from the Blackout Bill to ensure affordable energy   
• Place a lower income cap on eligibility for electric vehicle rebates so they go to people who need them the most, and not to the most wealthy   
• Prohibit the use of green energy materials from other countries if manufactured with child slave labor  
• Follow federal conformity regarding battery components being produced in North America  
   

“Senate Republicans offered solutions that give us affordable, reliable, and ‘always on’ energy for Minnesotans, and nuclear is a key part of our proposal. Nuclear power is a carbon-free, clean-energy source that serves as the most resilient form of generation. If Democrats intend to fully remove coal and gas generation from the equation, then we need more nuclear. I am extremely disappointed to see Democrats remove my nuclear feasibility study. This is a small step our state could have taken to understand how nuclear could benefit Minnesota’s energy future,” Senator Mathews concluded. 

ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE REPORT RAISES TAXES, GROWS BUREAUCRACY, DRIVES UP COSTS ON MINNESOTANS 

The environment section of the bill provides $1 billion for environment and natural resources, which represents a 67% spending increase above the previous budget. The bill significantly raises fees to register all watercraft, and dramatically increases government bureaucracy including nearly 300 new employees and expands power for agency commissioners to act without legislative approval.  

“We have a long bipartisan tradition in this state of protecting and caring for the outdoors,” said Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids), lead Republican on the Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee. “Unfortunately, instead of prioritizing our amazing natural resources, Democrats created a bill that will hurt farmers, hurt families, and hurt small businesses, while empowering and growing bureaucrats and government. It spends huge amounts of taxpayer dollars while making it harder for taxpayers across the state to enjoy our natural resources. That is not the direction we should be going.” 

• The most controversial item in the environment portion of the bill calls for a $14.8 million increase in fee increases for watercraft registrations. The cost of these fee increases would vary between 78% and 143% for each person, depending on the type and size of their watercraft. Minnesota has a strong boating culture, with the most boats per capita in the country. We are also one of only six states that require canoes and kayaks to be registered. 

 
BOAT FEE INCREASES: 

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• Agriculture communities will be affected by new regulations around treated seeds. The bill gives the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency rulemaking authority over the disposal of treated seeds. The bill also gives local governments the ability to adopt ordinances regarding pesticides. 

• The bill is particularly hostile toward farmers who raise deer. The bill imposes new regulations, such prohibiting new white-tailed deer farms, allowing hunters to kill escaped Cervidae with no liability, exposing farm owners to civil liability, and requiring farmers to install a large fence around their property. There have been virtually no CWD deaths tied to deer farms in recent years. 

• The bill provides nearly $30 million for climate-related conservation easements, converting private property for climate change purposes. $21 million for “soil health activities, including climate change resiliency, and $9 million to pay for conservation easements to modify peatlands for climate benefits. 

• In a controversial move that surprised local communities, the bill would give Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community after significant investment by the state to improve the park. The bill grows government with hundreds of new state employees and grants expansive powers to multiple commissioners and state agencies, including the Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Health.