Minnesota’s 2026 Legislative Session kicked off on February 17, with legislators exercising extra caution on spending and big policy changes heading into an election year. In 2025, the legislature passed a two-year budget, funding state government agencies through June 30, 2027. With a budget already set, there was little urgency to pass any major pieces of legislation this year.
Given that the Minnesota House remains tied at 67-67, and both the House and Senate seats are up for election this fall, much of this session was consumed by partisan speeches and political theater. Many bills were introduced and heard, not to be passed, but to score political points ahead of this fall’s elections.
Several pieces of legislation cleared the DFL-controlled Senate – such as gun violence prevention legislation and a bill that would have prohibited hospital administrators from coordinating with ICE – but were effectively killed by the GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
Saving HCMC
Despite the election-year noise, MNA’s top priority—saving Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) from closing—had near-unanimous support in the legislature. Throughout session, MNA members advocated alongside healthcare workers with AFSCME, HCAPE (paramedics), the Guild (hospital interpreters and translators), SEIU-CIR (interns and residents), and community advocates, including allies with Faith in Minnesota, to push legislators on both sides of the aisle to prioritize long-term, sustainable funding for HCMC.
MNA also coordinated with Hennepin County commissioners and other county and hospital officials to advocate for a viable solution. Eventually, workers’ advocacy helped secure $205 million in short-term funding for HCMC, along with another $500 million in reserve funding for the hospital if a longer-term funding solution is not established at the legislature in 2027-2028.
Hospital Stabilization Funding
At the Capitol, MNA also advocated for additional stabilization funding for hospitals that will be most impacted by federal healthcare funding cuts from HR1 (“the One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) that will begin to hit hospitals next year. Hospitals that treat a higher proportion of patients on medical assistance will be hit hardest, especially smaller and rural hospitals that do not have the infrastructure to offset cuts with more profitable services. Although it is incumbent on large health systems with ample cash-on-hand to prioritize saving these hospitals, existing regulations do not force health systems to prioritize their budgets in this way.
Now that session has ended, it is clear stakeholders must return next year to determine how Minnesota will support its hospitals with new state revenues to offset these impending federal cuts.
Next Steps for Nurses
MNA will need to remain active in these discussions to ensure new healthcare funding goes to the right places, which is why nurse engagement in the upcoming election for MNA-endorsed candidates will be crucial. Hopefully, the composition of the legislature will look different after this November’s election. If a more nurse-friendly and labor-friendly legislature is in place we’ll be able to have important conversations on labor rights, healthcare financing, and staffing in order to pass meaningful new state laws that better address workers’ rights and the future of healthcare in Minnesota.
MNA Wins at the Capitol:
- $205 million in guaranteed short-term funding for HCMC, and another $500 million in reserves in case a longer-term funding solution is not established in 2027-2028;
- MNA partnered with labor-friendly legislators on the Labor and Workforce Committees to defend against efforts to weaken workers’ rights – including attacks on the Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) and Earned Sick & Safe Time (ESST) programs; and
- MNA successfully worked with members on the House Health Committee to shut down efforts to bring the Nurse Licensure Compact to Minnesota which would weaken nurse licensure standards.
Additional Notable New Laws/Funding:
- Hospital Stabilization Funding: $30 million was allocated for “financially distressed hospitals” to apply for grant funding next year to help offset uncompensated care costs. This will likely form the foundation for more, similar funding in the future.
- State Corrections Plan Changes: MNA public sector members in the corrections pension plan will now be statutorily eligible for union time (existing law had previously prohibited unions from paying leaders in the corrections plan for “lost time”).
- APRNs: the legislature eliminated the requirement that a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist must do all their 2,080 practice hours within a hospital setting to obtain their APRN licensure. This will allow NPs’ and CNS’ practice hours in other settings/facilities to count toward APRN licensure hours.
- Many updates were made to Medical Assistance rules to comply with new federal requirements from HR1, including tightening eligibility verification, requiring more frequent enrollee redeterminations, and creating work requirements for certain adults receiving MA. There were also numerous other areas within Human Services, including SNAP and disability services, where the legislature made changes to conform with new federal requirements.
What Didn’t Pass:
- The Stadium Tax bill (that would have benefitted both HCMC and North Memorial);
- Changes to 340B legislation, including the bipartisan legislation that hospitals are saying they need in order to protect those revenues. The current 340B rules that allow hospitals on the program to pocket millions in profits have pitted Hospitals vs. Pharma (and some of the trades) at the Capitol, but are set to sunset summer 2027;
- Fixes to home nursing private insurance requirement loopholes that have made it possible for health insurance companies to deny home nursing care for children after age 3;
- Legislation to keep ICE out of hospitals, daycares, or schools;
- Gun violence prevention legislation; and
- Legalization of sports betting.
