Evaluating the 2023 Legislative Session / Providing Environmental Stewardship / Legalizing Recreational Cannabis

Governor Tim Walz and DFL leaders hold a ceremonial bill signing celebrating the passage of a new two-year state budget. Plus, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson joins Capitol Report moderator Shannon Loehrke to offer his perspective on the new budget.

Representative Rick Hansen, Chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, called the committee’s budget bill “the most significant environment and climate bill in Minnesota history, both in terms of its investment and its reforms.” He joins Shannon to talk about funding for natural resources and provisions to alleviate chronic wasting disease, stop invasive carp and address PFAS contamination.

Also in the program, highlights from the bill signing to legalize recreational adult-use cannabis. Plus, remarks from a press conference on the last night of session that changed the Nurses at the Bedside Act to the Nurse and Patient Safety Act, an agreement intended to improve working conditions for nurses while eliminating a provision that would have ensured nurse input in hospital staffing levels.