The Minnesota Senate Republicans have announced committee structures and Chairs for the upcoming session. Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) will continue to serve as the Chair of the Senate’s Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee when the new legislative session begins in January.

“I look forward to continuing to serve as Chair of the Senate’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee and am dedicated to addressing Minnesotans’ shared environment and natural resource priorities while encouraging participation and expanding access to Minnesota’s great outdoors,” said Senator Ingebrigtsen. “Minnesotans should expect our environment to be clean and accessible for generations to come, and by working collectively with sportsmen, environmentalists, and our communities and businesses, we can get this done.”

The priority for the session will be balancing the budget in light of an economy recovering from COVID. The Senate Finance Committee is the only committee with hearing time available three days a week, all others are limited to one or two hearings a week, or as needed. Less meeting time will help focus the agendas and ensure public participation can be done safely. There are more committees, 29 in total, from 2020, but with fewer members to accommodate for social distancing. The new committee areas are focused on: data practices and civil law, property taxes, mining and forestry, labor and industry, health and human services licensing, metropolitan governance, and redistricting.