Committee: Legislative Committee

2025 Mission: 
The mission of the Legislative Committee is to provide focus, representation, and visibility for the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association (MSFCA) in legislative activities. This is done by advocating, supporting, sponsoring, opposing, and actively participating in the legislative process involving those issues, areas, or proposals as directed by the President of the Association.

2025 Report:  
The Minnesota Legislature concluded the 2025 legislative session by enacting a budget for the 2026-27 biennium during a June Special Session.

This session, we continued to partner with our lobbying firm, Lockridge Grindal Nauen (LGN). Their team advocates for and represents our priorities at the Capitol with successful results.

The Minnesota Fire Association Coalition (MNFAC) has an alliance with the Minnesota State Fire Department Association (MSFDA), Minnesota Fire Marshals Association (FMAM), and the Minnesota Chapter of the International Arson Investigators Association (IAAI). This alliance remains united on our legislative agenda and advocates for the Minnesota Fire Service at the Capitol. MNFAC representatives meet bi-weekly throughout the legislative session to address issues and discuss legislative strategy. Although we do not represent the Minnesota Professional Firefighters, we work closely with them on several legislative issues and Fire Service Day at the Capitol.

LGN and MNFAC made significant progress on our legislative priorities during this session. We monitored and influenced provisions in the omnibus pensions and retirement bill and the omnibus public safety bill, and we successfully defeated proposals to raid funds from the Fire Safety Account. We had a strong presence at the Capitol and continued strengthening our relationships with the Governor's Office, key legislators and staff, and agency heads.

With the state facing a projected budget deficit in the 2028-29 biennium, the legislature aimed to enact a balanced budget that reduced spending in future years. In doing so, legislators sought funds from additional sources, and one proposal suggested diverting surplus funds in the Fire Safety Account for other purposes. Our team secured numerous meetings with legislative leaders and House and Senate Committee Chairs to successfully defeat the proposal to divert these funds and kept the Fire Safety Account intact.

We assisted in passage of key provisions in the omnibus pensions and retirement bill, which contains a number of provisions of interest to the fire service. The bill makes changes regarding firefighter relief associations, benefit increases for public safety, and state aid and supplemental employer contributions changes. It also made changes to the PTSD duty disability law by prospectively reducing the requirement for employers to pay health care costs to five years. We maintained strong relationships with the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) members throughout the session.

In the 2024 legislative session, we successfully defeated a proposal to allow single-exit stairways in multifamily residential structures above three stories. The legislature instead required the Department of Labor and Industry to study this subject and provide a report by the end of 2025. We have been monitoring these meetings throughout the year, and will continue to do so, as the fire service has great concerns with this proposal.

During the session, we held the annual Fire Service Day at the Capitol on March 31, at which we secured Governor Walz, the late Speaker Hortman, Senate Minority Leader Johnson and numerous key committee chairs as speakers. We were pleased with the high turnout and would like to thank everyone who was able to attend. We look forward to welcoming you all again next year on April 27, 2026.

In addition to the issues we advocated for or against, our LGN team monitored relevant issues including, but not limited to, the expansion of the high-rise sprinkler grant program, repealing outdated fire safety measures, and increasing the penalties for assaulting a firefighter or EMS personnel. We made progress towards clarifying eligibility for line of duty death benefits for part-time and paid on-call firefighters and are well positioned to move forward this legislative change during the next session. Some additional provisions that were not passed this year, but we expect the legislature to continue conversations on next year, include granting municipal licensing authority for assisted living facilities, fire protection and EMS special taxing districts, and concerns regarding newborn safe havens at fire stations. We will continue our efforts in these areas next year.

Legislative Committee File Library

Legislative Bill Tracker File Library

EMS Transcripts File Library

Public Legislative Resources

Town Hall Presentation from Representative Rasmusson