2026 Legislative Session Update Workshop – May 26, 2026
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2026 Legislative Session Update Workshop – May 26, 2026
The Ramsey County Board held a workshop on May 26, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. in Courthouse Room 220 to receive a post‑session update from Government Relations on the outcomes of the 2026 legislative session and to begin planning for the 2027 session. The workshop was streamed live; no votes were taken. Presenters included Interim Government Relations Director Jolie Wood, Chief of Staff Maria Sarabia, County Manager Lane Becker, and other county staff. Commissioners introduced themselves at the start.
Discussion Items
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2026 Legislative Session Overview: Interim Director Wood noted the session was challenging due to a tied House, requiring bipartisan support for all bills. Many agreements were reached late in closed negotiations rather than through transparent conference committees.
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SNAP Administrative Cost Shift: The state provided $10.7 million statewide for counties to partially cover SNAP administrative costs shifted from the federal government. Ramsey County’s estimated annual cost increase is $4.1 million, but the shift takes effect October 2026 (only one quarter in FY2027). Commissioners questioned the distribution method and the long‑term sustainability, with County Manager Becker emphasizing the need to articulate trade‑offs between property tax burdens and service levels.
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MAPA/CWDA Funding: Counties received $15 million statewide for the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act. Funding will be allocated proportionally, with a minimum floor raised to $100,000 per county. Ramsey County also obtained an extension of its early implementation funding through December 2026. A planned transfer of case review to the state did not occur; instead, case review was delayed six months to allow time for additional state funding to be sought in the next session.
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Long‑Term Services and Supports (LTSS): Counties identified $122 million in cost savings, but the state allocated those savings to the general fund rather than crediting counties to avoid cost shifts. The structural deficit that initially drove proposed cost shifts has narrowed, so the issue may be revisited in 2027.
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Case Management Services: A bill that would have ended counties’ use of contracted waiver case management was replaced with a working group to study the entire case management system and conduct a rate study (the first in 15 years). Counties will be represented on the working group.
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Human Services IT Modernization: $90 million was allocated over two biennia, including $50 million into a new Human Services Systems Modernization Advisory Fund. An advisory council with county representation will approve major IT changes. $10 million is designated for MINET grants to counties.
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Housing & Homelessness Wins: The Family Homeless Prevention Assistance Program received $40 million for emergency rental assistance ($5.6 million projected for Ramsey County). The Local Homeless Prevention Aid program was extended from 2028 to 2032. Efforts to expand allowable uses for LHPA and SHPA (including administrative costs) did not succeed but may be revisited.
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Parks & Environmental Health: Metro Council received $10 million in bonding for regional parks and trails; Ramsey County expects $1.3 million for boat launch maintenance. The Ramsey‑Washington Recycling & Energy Center obtained $1.657 million to rebuild flail mills, and a study of infectious waste transport was funded instead of a ban. Another $5 million in metro‑wide tree‑planting grants was approved.
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Statute 383A Update: A bill to modernize human resources language in Ramsey County’s special statute passed both chambers in different forms but could not be reconciled due to procedural differences. No opposition exists; it will be reintroduced in 2027.
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Capital Requests: Neither Park at River’s Edge nor Aldrich Arena received bonding awards. The bonding bill prioritized water infrastructure projects (nearly half of total funds). St. Paul received significant bonding dollars for downtown redevelopment, which the county supports as beneficial to the broader property tax base.
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Property Tax Refunds: A one‑time 14.88% increase in the property tax refund tool was enacted, providing an average of $173 to homeowners earning under $143,000 annually. Commissioners criticized the program as inefficient because it requires residents to apply, and many eligible households do not claim the refund. Discussion included the possibility of automatic refunds and the broader issue of state underfunding counties.
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Raise the Age of Juvenile Delinquency: A law raising the minimum age for juvenile delinquency from 10 to 13 takes effect August 1, 2026. An effort to delay implementation failed. Commissioners raised concerns about placement options for young people committing serious offenses, noting the county is first in the nation to adopt this change.
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Federal Earmarks: A request for $772,700 for law enforcement technology equipment and training systems has been approved by the House Appropriations Committee and is under consideration in the Senate.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken during this workshop.
- The county successfully launched conversations on the Capital Complex County Host Program, with bill language and a revenue note prepared for 2027.
- The Mortgage Registry and Deed Tax extension was secured, funding the Environmental Response Fund.
- $10.7 million in state aid for SNAP admin costs was won, but long‑term full cost coverage remains unresolved.
- MAPA/CWDA funding was won with proportional allocation, preserving Ramsey County’s share.
- The LTSS cost‑shift threat was deferred but not eliminated; counties will continue advocacy.
- A working group on case management systems and a rate study will include county representation.
- Human services IT modernization received substantial initial state investment; counties will have advisory roles.
- Housing programs received significant emergency funds, and the Local Homeless Prevention Aid program was extended to 2032.
- The 383A update bill failed due to procedural issues but will be revived in 2027.
- State property tax refunds were increased temporarily, but automatic refunds were not adopted.
- The juvenile delinquency age increase will take effect as scheduled; the board will hold future workshops on implementation.
- Government Relations will begin debriefing in June and developing the 2027 legislative platform over the summer, with a targeted timeline of finalizing by late summer/fall.
Meeting Transcript
Where's my daughter? Oh, okay. All right. Well, welcome. Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming to our workshop. Today's workshop is our 2026 legislative update. Give a first kudos to everybody who worked so hard on getting this ready already. This was just last week that we ended. Courtesy reminder that this board workshop is recorded and it is live streamed on Zoom webinar. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. We'll start with an introduction of commissioners and presenters around the table, and then the rest of the room. So I'm Mary Joe McGuire, Commissioner, District 2. Tara Chavin Singh, Commissioner District 1. Green of Moran, Commissioner District 4. Lynn Bank Manager. Andrew Greenley, Deputy Chief of Staff. Jolie Wood and from Government Relations Director. Marie Savia Chief of Staff. Kelly Miller, Commissioner District 7. Digging. Karen Francois, Deputy County Manager of Community Services and Support. Oh, another senior policy allies to the GB staff. And I was interim policy manager and office of keep staff. Christy Potts planning coming after myself. Thank you all. So the 26th legislative session just ended last Monday. So this has been a really great thing, fast turnaround. And the purpose of today's workshop is for government relations to provide an update on the outcomes of the session and a look ahead at the 2027 session, which we're always thinking about. At today after today's workshop, government relations will begin planning the development of the 2027 legislative platform. Chief of Staff Maria Sarabia will provide an introduction and overview. We'll then take us through the update. And County Manager Lane Becker will reground us with some closing remarks. And we're gonna let our uh let uh commissioner Teg introduce himself for the record and then we'll turn it over to the leader. Rafael take a mission of the strip fund. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners. Um, I want to thank you. Um, and before we go into today's presentation, I also want to just publicly thank uh our former government relations directors on work and Amy Walzowick, um, who helped us bring this vision to fruition in terms of having a more refined and um focused legislative platform. They've been they were super responsive. And moreover, I want to thank interim government relations Jolie Wood, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff, um, Andrew Greenley. But Joel Lee Wood has like really uh set the stage for us today. She's been very diligent and has led us through a lot of different changes. Um and she saw us through this session along with our contracted supports. Um what we will see today are the outcomes of significant strategy, focus, and an orderly approach to focusing on what we have deemed as priorities for the organization. Um the challenge here when you set these priorities is you're very focused, and when you don't get wins on a few of your priorities, I feel like really big losses, but I don't want that to blur the uh opportunities that we have ahead of us and the lessons that we've learned along the way. Um so much of what we've done, uh we'll just want to remind us that it we're you know, we're on this journey, and I think we're only gonna get better from here as our government relations team is uh re uh imagined and we have a bit of an option for a reset, and um we're building that out as we speak. So um, I also want to thank as the chief of staff, all the staff and the leaders who've come into the space across the departments, and with that sort of coordination and focus, we had to do a lot more engagement, increased contact, a lot of huddles, which deputy chief of staff Andrew Grammy Greenley um helped us do, and we had to be more in connection. That can be hard as on top of our day-to-day work, but I'm thankful for all the department directors, especially uh those who have participated in our various huddles.
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