Tech Policy Download: April 18, 2023

Since returning at noon on April 11th from its annual Easter/Passover break, legislators in the Minnesota House and Senate are hard at work assembling their tax and spending bills and consider other surviving policy bills as they enter the final six weeks of the session. Buckle up for what should be a wild ride to the finish line!

This bi-weekly newsletter provide updates on legislation MnTech is actively following and engaging with in support of Minnesota’s tech ecosystem, and we look forward to working with any interested parties on advancing (or voicing concern over) any of the issues highlighted below.

This session MnTech is focused on legislation to get Minnesota out of last place in the nation in access to foundation computer science courses – we’re currently ranked 50th out of 50 states. We are also focused on expanding successful experiential learning opportunities like the SciTech program which increase the diversity of our tech talent pipeline. With average annual median tech wage at $94,715, 106% higher than the median state wage, we must ensure that education and training pathways into tech are accessible for all Minnesota students.

Computer Science Education Advancement Act

HF 727(Lee) / SF 757 (Gustafson): This legislation aims to help Minnesota get out of last place in the nation in access to foundational computer science courses at the high school level by creating an Advisory Committee on computer science education expansion and providing annual funding for training computer science teachers.

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. The House Education Policy Committee unanimously passed the amended version of the legislation and referred it to the House Education Finance Committee. The Education Finance Committee laid it over for possible inclusion into the Omnibus K-12 funding bill where it now appears. On the Senate side, the legislation was passed unanimously out of the Senate Education Policy Committee and was passed onto the K-12 Education Finance Committee for consideration and inclusion in its Omnibus K-12 Finance Bill. The Senate K-12 Finance Committee did not include it on its Omnibus bill. MnTech is actively working to get the full funding request as the conference committee convenes in the coming weeks.

SciTech Legislation

HF 1107(Kotyza-Witthuhn) / SF 1284 (Mohamed): This legislation provides expanded funding to the SciTech Internship program, which has placed over 2,000 interns in STEM related internships at small businesses across the state.

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. This legislation is included in both the House and Senate Omnibus Jobs/Workforce bills at $1 million per year. While not the $1.4 million we had requested, it is still an increase from the $875K that was allocated to SciTech for the each of the past two program years

MnTech supports legislation advancing the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband’s outstanding recommendations for the state’s border-to-border broadband program, ensuring all Minnesotans have access to reliable broadband. This includes ensuring that schools have access to reliable, high-speed broadband. We are actively monitoring policy issues such as privacy, net neutrality and a national broadband funding framework, which we believe should be addressed at the federal level to avoid a patchwork of regulations from state-to-state.

SF 1408 (Wesenberg) / HF 1441 (Wiener) – This legislation expands the Broadband grant program to include fixed wireless.

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. No committee action at this time.

SF 1523 (Putnam) / HF 1564 (Brand) – This legislation expands the broadband tax exemption to include fiber and conduit used in broadband and Internet access services

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. The House Omnibus Agriculture bill (HF2679) includes $75 million in the first year and $50 million in the second year for border to bother broadband program. The Senate bill (SF 1956) includes $55 million in the first year and $35 million in the second year in addition to $20 million each year for the lower population grants program.

HF 1813 (Norris) / SF 1874 (Rest): This legislation reinstates the small business investment income tax credit (Angle Investment Tax Credit).

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. This legislation passed out of the House Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee and was sent to the House Tax committee. It was laid over in the Senate Tax Committee for possible inclusion in the Omnibus tax bill. The Omnibus tax bills are due to be released shortly.

HF 295 (Elkins) / SF 405 (Mann) – This legislation ensures that covenants not to compete are void and unenforceable.

Status: MnTech opposes this legislation and recommends Minnesota wait to take any action until the FTC issues their final rule on noncompete clauses. This legislation was heard and amended in the House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee. The Commerce Finance and Policy Committee passed the amended legislation and referred it to the House Judiciary Committee. The Senate Labor Committee amended and passed the legislation and referred it to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. The Committee passed the bill out and has sent it to the Senate Finance Committee.

HF 468 (Noor) / SF 2237 (Dibble) – This legislation modifies sales and use tax provisions modified to include taxation of transfers of prewritten computer software.

Status: MnTech opposes this legislation as drafted as it creates an additional tax on individuals and businesses, often small businesses, in a state with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the country. This bill is currently in the House and Senate Tax Committees and awaits action. The Omnibus tax bills are due to be released shortly.

HF 790 (Robbins) / SF1762 (Rasmusson): – This legislation allows an annual rather than amortized state subtraction for research and experimental expenditures.

Status: MnTech supports this legislation. This bill is currently in the House and Senate Tax Committees and awaits action.

MnTech opposes efforts such as right to repair legislation that allow uncertified repairs to electronic equipment and other devices with sensitive intellectual property, as doing so increases the introduction of cybersecurity risks. This not only impacts the protection of the intellectual property, it adds greater risk to system failures resulting in increased property damage and potential human harm. We are actively monitoring the pending introduction of legislation related to data privacy, which in previous legislation sessions have been drafted to have a much broader than intended scope and a wide variety of unintended consequences, and legislation related to age-appropriate design code.

HF 1337 (Fischer) / SF 1598 (Kupec) – This legislation allows for expanded digital repair services and authorizes the Attorney General to issue penalties for noncompliance.

Status: MnTech opposes this legislation as it impacts consumer safety and proprietary information. The House Committee on Commerce Finance and Policy amended this legislation and passed it out of committee and referred the legislation to the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee, which amended it and referred it to the House Judiciary Committee, which passed the bill and sent it to the House Floor. The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee passed the legislation out of committee and referred it to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. That committee sent the bill to the Senate Floor.

HF 1503 (Robbins) / SF 2101 (Mathews) – Prohibiting social media algorithms that target children.

Status: MnTech opposes this legislation as written due to the large number of non-social media platforms the legislation unintentionally includes (including retail and video streaming services) and lack of clarity on compliance and enforcement. The legislation was amended and passed out of the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee amended the bill and re-refer it to Judiciary Finance and Civil Law. The Senate has not considered the bill.

HF 2257 (Bahner)/ SF 2810 (Maye Quade) – Minnesota Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

Status: MnTech is reviewing this legislation. This bill was passed out of the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee on Wednesday, March 1st and referred to the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. On March 16th there was a hearing on HF 2257 with Judiciary Finance and Civil Law. A delete everything amendment was adopted and the bill re-referred to the Commerce Committee. There was a hearing on SF 2810 on March 23rd in the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection. The bill was amended, recommended to pass and re-referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.

The Senate judiciary committee has shelved this bill, and will not pass it this session. However, it is holding an information hearing on the contents of the bill next week. No action will be taken.

Don’t see a bill or article listed here that you think MnTech should be following, or want to get more involved in tech advocacy? Let Jeff Tollefson know at Jeff@mntech.org.