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New Minnesota laws effective Jan. 1, 2024
As elected officials prepare to introduce new legislation at the start of next session, we’re reminding Minnesotans which laws from 2023 go into effect on Jan. 1.
MINNEAPOLIS — Just a few months from now, state lawmakers will gather to form the 94th Minnesota Legislature at the state’s Capitol in St. Paul.
As those elected officials prepare to introduce and lobby for new legislation going into 2024, we’re focusing on some new laws passed in 2023 that take effect on Jan. 1.
Earned Sick and Safe Time
WHAT IT DOES: This legislation guarantees earned paid leave for state employees for reasons like illness, caring for a sick family member or seeking assistance if they or a member of their family has experienced domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. Eligible employees include those who work at least 80 hours per year in Minnesota and are not independent contractors.
Both full and part-time employees are qualified to receive one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked and can earn up to 48 total hours – unless their employer agrees to more.
Minimum Wage
WHAT IT DOES: Workers in Minnesota who make minimum wage will see an increase in their paychecks come January. The boost, which the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry said was adjusted for inflation, will amount to $10.85 per hour for large employers and $8.85 for small employers.
The state considers large companies as those with an annual gross income of at least $500,000.
Worth noting, the statewide wage hike will not interfere with minimum wage requirements in Minneapolis and St. Paul, both of which have already implemented higher hourly rates.
Pay Discrimination
WHAT IT DOES: According to data gathered by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, women, people of color and Indigenous people are consistently paid less than white men.
A new law, known as the Preventing Pay Discrimination Act, addresses that issue by mandating employers rely on a job seeker’s “skills, education, certifications, licenses, and other qualifications, as well as the job market, to set pay.” Further, the law says all public, private and nonprofit employers in Minnesota are required to comply, and will not be allowed to ask an applicant about their current or past pay history as part of the hiring process and/or salary negotiations.
Workplace Safety
WHAT IT DOES: If warehouse distribution centers, meatpacking and poultry processing facilities, and health care systems with 100 employees or more haven’t felt the impacts of the pieces of this legislation that have already gone into effect, they will on Jan. 1.
The legislation aims to minimize and prevent musculoskeletal disorders from developing, and to lower the number of injuries suffered at work in general with a required amount of safety training and honoring an employee’s refusal to work under conditions they believe will put them in “imminent danger of death or serious physical harm.”
According to Minnesota’s Labor Department, the legislation is the first of its kind to be implemented in the United States.
Education
WHAT IT DOES: Every school district in the state will be required to provide sanitary products, free of charge, to students who menstruate. The new law states the products must be available in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4-12.
Public Safety
WHAT IT DOES: Sometimes referred to as a “red flag law,” this piece of legislation allows a family member, law enforcement or city official or guardian to petition for an “extreme risk protection order.” The petition, which can be filed on an emergency basis, works to prohibit a person from possessing firearms for up to one year if “the respondent poses a significant danger of bodily harm for other persons or is at significant risk of suicide by possessing a firearm.”
The law states that in an emergency situation, the respondent must “present an immediate and present danger of either bodily harm to others or taking their own life.”
If a court finds a petition is appropriate, the accused is required to transfer their firearms within 24 hours to a federally licensed firearms dealer or law enforcement agency. When the petition expires, the law states firearms will be returned.
Transportation
WHAT IT DOES: Several new rules will go into effect for commuters on Jan. 1, including the availability of specialty sports license plates (Twins, Lynx, United, Timberwolves, Wild, Vikings) as well as Lions Club International and Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, with proceeds going toward their designated respective foundations. Blackout plates will also be available.
Prices for some transportation essentials are set to rise, too. The state’s gas tax is also set to change in the new year, with a hike linked to the state of inflation. However, the law says no year-over-year percentage change is allowed to exceed 3%.
Additionally, taxes on motor vehicle registrations will increase beginning Jan. 1, as well as motor vehicle sales tax rates (from 6.5% to 6.85%).
For a list of every piece of legislation passed into law in 2023, click here.
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Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
John Sawchak faces four felony charges after officials said he shot his neighbor on Grand Avenue South while trimming a tree on their shared property line.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering in the hospital after being shot outside his home in a dispute with a neighbor on Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis on Oct. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hospital for a report of a gunshot victim on Wednesday night. The injured man had been transported from his home on Grand Avenue South for an unknown medical condition that caused him to collapse. The man was found in the fetal position by his wife when she got home from work that evening.
Officials later identified the victim as Davis Maturi.
At the hospital, providers found a small puncture wound in the back of Maturi’s neck that led to the discovery of a bullet lodged near his spine. When he arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t recall what led up to him being shot, according to the criminal complaint.
Maturi’s wife told officials that he had been outside earlier in the day pruning a tree near their property line with a chainsaw. She said their neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, 54, had “almost certainly” shot her husband.
In the previous week, Maturi’s wife said Sawchak told her husband “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.”
The criminal complaint goes on to detail numerous complaints of harassment the Maturi’s experienced since purchasing their house in September 2023.
Oct. 11, 2023: Maturi approached Sawchak to discuss the tree on their property line. Sawchak became irate, according to the criminal complaint, yelling at Maturi and using “racially charged language.” Sawchak told Maturi if he “touched” the tree, Sawchak would “take care of” him.
March 1, 2024: Sawchak approached Maturi while he was working outside his house on a ladder. While verbally harassing him, officials said Sawchak told Maturi that he would put him in the hospital.
April 5, 2024: Sawchak threw household items at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window.
May 28, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi, calling him “a Black bastard,” and telling him “I’m going to kill you if you call the police again. All you people do is lie and commit crimes.”
Aug. 7, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi from his 2nd story window. Maturi saw Sawchak holding up a large knife in the window while threatening to kill Maturi and his wife.
Oct. 8, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened and screamed racial slurs at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window. Sawchak also, once again, brandished a knife from his window while threatening to kill Maturi.
Oct. 14, 2024: Maturi saw Sawchak outside Maturi’s home with a firearm. Sawchak pointed the firearm at Maturi through the window.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Maturi’s wife went home to pack some things and leave for the night, officials said. Sawchak verbally harassed her and shone a stone light on her as she left her home, the criminal complaint read. The next day, Maturi and his wife were able to access home security footage from their home cameras. The video shows Maturi working outside near the tree at the property line with his back to Sawchak’s home. A faint “crack” or “pop” can be heard, then Maturi collapsed to the ground.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion. He talked to KARE 11 from his hospital bed and said he feels the police failed to protect his family by not arresting Sawchak during one of the various other incidents.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Maturi said. “You have this body armor, you have professional training… when I call for assistance, when I called for having a knife pointed at me, I had to wait hours and hours and hours.”
As of Sunday morning, Sawchak is not in police custody. According to the criminal complaint, Sawchak has at least three active warrants associated with prior threats or acts of violence against Matsuri and other neighbors. Sawchak has “actively evaded” police during their prior attempts to contact or arrest him.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey showed anger and blame directed at the Minneapolis police department for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Watch Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s response below:
