Reflecting on the 2024 Legislative Season
The 2024 Minnesota legislative session has officially come to a close. With every legislative session, there are celebrations and losses, but no matter the outcome, we are always grateful for our network of advocates!
Commercial Tobacco
While ABH's policy priorities around commercial tobacco and cannabis made strong progress, the bills to end the sale of all flavored commercial tobacco products and prevent the sale of flavored cannabis that is burned inhaled or vaporized, did not make it across the finish line.
We want to thank our Minnesotans for a Smoke Free Generation partners and all advocateswho made their voices heard around this topic. We especially want to thank Representatives Ethan Cha and Kaohly Vang Her, and Senate President Bobby Jo Champion for carrying and being strong unified voices for these public health issues.
2024 continued to illustrate the need for bold constituent advocacy and a cohesive message when striving to combat the tobacco industry and flavored products. Ahead of the 2025 legislative session, ABH will be working with advocacy partners to connect with legislative leaders and discuss fact from fiction when it comes to the community impact of commercial tobacco products.
Food Access
The nature of the Minnesota legislative biennium means that in year two, elected officials are focused on bonding bills as opposed to bills with dollar figures, known as fiscal notes, attached to them. Because of this, in 2024 most bills that required state spending did not see much movement. However, at the end of session anti-hunger and food access advocates still celebrated a number of victories, including:
Secured funding to ensure food security for Minnesotans in need:
$3.4 million one-time funding for food shelves
$5 million one-time funding for food banks to distribute free food to food shelves
$2 million one-time funding for tribal food sovereignty
Secured funding for Summer EBT to increase access to food support to low-income families during the summer months
Passed a bill to increase college SNAP access at the state level
Passed legislation authorizing MN DHS to pursue an 1115 waiver for medically tailored meals
Expanded the Farm to School program to early care home-based settings and increased funding by $125,000 in 2025
Rates of hunger are still at an all-time high in Minnesota, and while there is still much progress to be made, we celebrate the wins and tireless work of advocates who are bringing this needed message to the State Capitol.
Are you interested in joining these conversations and getting involved? Please contact Lucy Faerber for opportunities to engage.