On Tuesday, Senator Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake) was appointed to serve on the legislature’s conference committee for Senate File 605, the Omnibus State Government Bill.  Senator Kiffmeyer will serve as chair joining four of her Senate colleagues and five members from the House, who will work collaboratively over the coming days to negotiate with Governor Dayton and reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Omnibus State Government Bill.

“As chief author of the Senate’s version of the legislation I am honored to be selected to chair the legislature’s State Government Conference Committee,” said Senator Kiffmeyer. “I look forward to bringing my experience as chair of the Senate’s State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee to negotiations so that we may craft a bill that curbs rampant government spending and improves transparency and accountability.”

The Omnibus State Government Bill was passed by the Senate earlier this month and reigns in Government spending by decreasing the budget by 2.8% compared to the previous biennium. The bill also includes funding for elections equipment grants, increased cybersecurity and AMBER Alert Systems upgrades.

Conference committees will begin meeting in the next few days, and will continue negotiations until an agreement is reached. Once the conference committee report is passed, the report will head back to both the Senate and House to be voted on. If passed by both bodies, it will be sent to Governor Dayton for his signature to become law. The legislature has five weeks of session left under the state’s constitution and must have all bills submitted to the Governor by Monday May 22.