Three latest laws that were central to the DFL trifecta’s legislative agenda took effect Jan. 1.

Gun-safety laws, including so-called red flag warnings for people susceptible to harming themselves or others, sweeping landlord-tenant changes and a statewide sick leave plan all became law on the primary day of 2024.

A fourth leading agenda item, restrictions on some corporate campaign financing, was blocked from becoming law by a Dec. 20 federal court injunction. The order was in response to a legal challenge by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in Minnesota Chamber of Commerce v. Choi.

Listed below are descriptions of the brand new changes to Minnesota law.

Paid Sick Leave

The sick leave law covers all-but the self-employed, even those that work for employers with only one employee. It requires employers to put aside one hour of paid sick time for each 30 hours worked, as much as a maximum accrual of 48 hours a yr. Covered employees include any employee who works at the very least 80 hours a yr for a single employer, including part-time and temporary employees. The law doesn’t cover independent contractors.

The paid leave could be taken for the worker’s own physical or mental illness in addition to for treatment and preventative care. It could possibly even be used to take care of sick members of the family or to take members of the family to medical care and for absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Employees can claim paid leave if the workplace or a college is closed for bad weather or other emergencies. More information on this system could be found on the Department of Labor and Industry website.

Landlord-Tenant

The long list of changes to the section of law that governs the legal relationship between housing owners and renters is a direct results of the DFL trifecta, lobbyists for each side agree. Within the recent past, only changes agreed to by each owners and renters could pass a divided Legislature. But in 2023, a pent-up demand from the tenant side was unleashed, leading one advocate to call it “probably the most substantial change in Minnesota tenant/landlord law in a single session of the Legislature within the 165-year history of the state.”

Among the many changes are that tenants must receive 14-days-written-notice before an eviction for non-payment could be filed, eviction filings are expunged if a tenant wins a court dispute, landlords must list non-optional fees on the primary page of the lease and in advertisements, landlords must give 24-hour notice before entering units and might only enter between 8 a.m. and eight p.m. unless the renter agrees.

Other changes include additions to the list of emergency repairs: broken fridges and air conditioners, non-working elevators and pest infestations at the moment are included. Tenants can even now end a lease for medical reasons, and there’s a ban on mandated declawing or devocalizing of animals and a requirement that temperatures in rental units be at the very least 68 degrees from Oct. 1 to April 30. Previously there was no statewide standard, though some cities had ordinances. 

One other renter provision was within the taxes bill. It changes how and when renters can apply for rental tax credit. Under the old system, renters submitted a separate form in August. The law change puts the credit on the state income tax filing. Due to the added convenience, the state estimates more renters will claim the credit, and officials have put aside $190 million to pay for the increased credit. The renters credit is refundable, which implies it might each reduce taxes owed and be paid to tax filers by check in the event that they don’t owe state income taxes.

Gun Safety

DFL legislators and Gov. Tim Walz had pushed quite a lot of gun safety measures for the last 4 years but ran up against each the GOP-controlled Senate and lack of support from a few of their very own members. But after negotiating with a quartet of latest DFL senators from outside the Twin Cities urban core, a smaller — but still significant — package was included in the general public safety and judiciary omnibus bill.

The brand new provisions allow members of the family or law enforcement to hunt “extreme risk protection orders” — sometimes called red flag warnings — that might allow a judge to ban someone from possessing firearms for as much as a yr. The petition must show that the person is a risk to others or of suicide, and a hearing should be set inside 14 days.

The court could then order a search warrant and the firearm owner could be required to show over guns to a law enforcement agency or a federally licensed dealer. The identical provisions extend background checks to some private gun transfers.

RELATED: 4 takeaways from the DFL’s vote to approve gun regulations. 

Campaign Finance

U.S. District Court Judge Eric Tostrud’s preliminary injunction provides a brief delay within the ban on contributions from foreign-influence corporations. However the judge said he was issuing the hold because he concluded that the chamber was “more likely to prevail on the merits of its First Amendment challenge.”

The definition of what was a foreign-influenced corporation was central to his ruling, noting that ownership of only one% by a foreign shareholder or 5% from all foreign shareholders could prevent a company from giving to state campaigns. “Since the (state Campaign Finance) Board has didn’t discover evidence that minority foreign shareholders frequently (or ever) exercise influence or control over corporations’ political expenditures, the challenged provisions … sweep far too broadly,” the judge wrote.

The sections of the law at issue were a part of a DFL elections package called the Democracy for the People Act that included automatic voter registration when applying for a driver’s license or state advantages in addition to pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds. One other provision has already taken effect: the restoration of voting rights to people convicted of crimes who remain on probation but are not any longer in prison. 

Other bills that became effective Monday include:

• School districts and charter schools must provide access to menstrual products at no charge to students in grades 4 to 12.
• The dollar amount that could be refunded to campaign donors increased from $50 to $75 for people and from $100 to $150 for joint filers.
• Meat-processing businesses must adopt a secure employee program to scale back and stop musculoskeletal injuries. This system must include at the very least eight hours of coaching every year with two hours on ergonomics to forestall injuries.
• Oil refineries must include third-party or contract employees on training programs including ergonomics, and an increasing percentage of refinery staff should be graduates of or enrolled in apprenticeship programs. That percentage starts at 30% and increases to 60% in two years.
• Employers will now not be allowed to request the pay history of job seekers (although applicants can volunteer that information). Sponsors said the availability was meant to assist close gender and racial pay gaps. 
• Cities must allow religious institutions to site micro-dwelling units on their property.
• The Public Safety Department must provide real-time information on its website concerning the location and availability of drivers license examination appointments. The Office of Traffic Safety is now allowed to ask drivers license and ID card applicants to voluntarily provide race and ethnicity information.
• Specialty license plates for the state’s six major league sports teams will change into available for fans of the Vikings, Wild, Twins, Timberwolves, Lynx and United. A portion of the fees paid should be deposited into each team’s charitable foundations.
• Additional specialty plates are for Lions Club International, Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives with proceeds going to those causes.
• Blackout plates, license plates with white letters and numbers on a black background, also became available Jan. 1.