The Senate recently approved five bipartisan bills introduced by Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls) to ease regulatory burdens. If signed into law, Sen. Rasmusson’s bills will grow the state economy and expand career opportunities; remove regulatory burdens that block Minnesotans’ access to high-quality care; and eliminate unnecessary barriers that harm business operations.

“In some cases, government regulations have unintended consequences that actually harm the people they are seeking to protect,” Sen. Rasmusson said. “That is why I put forward key legislative proposals this session to allow more flexibility and remove unnecessary burdens.”

Included in the Senate majority’s transportation policy bill, which passed out of the Senate on Thursday, April 11, is Sen. Rasmusson’s legislation to help more Minnesotans obtain their commercial driver’s license (CDL) and enter high-demand and high-paying careers. SF 4169 removes a 180-hour training requirement that currently blocks many public higher education institutions from offering third-party CDL testing.

“State law allows a public higher education institution to offer third-party testing, but it requires that the program consist of 180 instructional hours,” Sen. Rasmusson said. “My legislation removes this 180-hour requirement, opening CDL testing up to any school that offers the training. This will get Minnesota students into high-demand and high-paying jobs and help our economy have the workforce needed to be successful.”

The Minnesota Senate also recently approved a human services policy bill, which includes two bills authored by Sen. Rasmusson. The first bill, SF 4329, provides a more proactive approach to seniors’ critical care transitions and placement options. Currently, the Senior LinkAge Line–a state resource to help Minnesotans think through long-term care options–is a required step to enter an assisted living contract. As part of this process, a potential lease signer must get a verification code from the Senior LinkAge Line, verifying they received counseling on their long-term care options.

The agency and a number of stakeholders, however, have identified this as a burden on assisted living providers and the residents who are seeking care. To address this, Sen. Rasmusson’s proposal removes the requirement for a verification code, but it still requires that assisted living providers inform prospective residents about available Senior LinkAge Line counseling services.

“A current problem with the Senior LinkAge Line is that it requires seniors to engage in counseling about long-term care options too late in the process and when someone is ready to sign a lease,” Sen. Rasmusson said. “This creates unnecessary burdens for both providers and prospective residents, leading to longer wait times for counseling services and frustration among callers who may not need them. My legislation allows the Senior LinkAge Line to allocate their resources more efficiently by focusing on Minnesota seniors in need of their services. It will also ease the burden on providers and residents seeking long-term care.”

Additionally, Sen. Rasmusson’s assistive technology legislation, SF 3736, is part of the Senate’s human services policy bill. This bill encourages the use of technology to monitor patients remotely, such as a bed monitor for seizure risk or someone with a fall hazard. This will help ease the long-term care staffing shortages Minnesota is experiencing, while still providing the necessary level of care. Sen. Rasmusson’s bill simplifies access to assistive technology for care service providers by eliminating regulatory requirements for eligible vendors already capable of implementing the technology.

“Assistive technology is a resource that all Minnesotans with disabilities should have the opportunity to access,” Sen. Rasmusson said. “However, some barriers remain, causing this technology to not be fully utilized. This legislation would update state agencies policies and remove unnecessary barriers to streamline approval and implementation of assistive technology.”

Finally, the Senate recently approved a commerce policy bill, which includes Senator Rasmusson’s wine transfer legislation, SF 1306. Under current law, an owner of more than one retail or municipal liquor store location may not transfer products between its stores. Sen. Rasmusson’s bill would allow such an owner to transfer up to 75 cases of wine four times per year. The City of Fergus Falls supports this bill as it will provide flexibility to transfer wine between their two township liquor stores.

The commerce policy bill also includes Sen. Rasmusson’s legislation, SF 5031, dealing with payroll services. This provision removes payroll service providers from the 2023 enacted definition of “money transmitter.” This will allow payroll service providers to continue working for employers across the country with Internal Revenue Service designations, without getting an additional license in every state.

“Currently, some states require payroll processing companies to register under money transmission laws if they handle employee payments across state lines,” Sen. Rasmusson said. “This bill seeks to remove this requirement, making it easier for payroll companies to offer their services to employers without unnecessary regulatory burdens.”