In the Senate
On Monday, March 23rd, the Senate Transportation Committee heard five bills on public safety and transportation. SF 4167 deals with security services for certain state officials, SF 4273 would modify the State Patrol compensation study, SF 3946 clarifies criminal penalties for assaulting transit workers, SF 4377 would allow the use of cameras to enforce parking violations in transit and bike lanes, and SF 4426 would let people add a speech condition identifier to their driver’s license or state ID.
On Wednesday, March 25th, the Senate Transportation Committee brought back three bills on Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) for a “mark-up” session, where the committee amends the bills to incorporate provisions from various bills into one package to advance.
These bills included two different visions for regulatory frameworks: a holistic and protective framework brought forward by Senator Dibble and complemented by bills from Senator McEwen and Senator Maye Quade; and an unprotective “blank check” framework driven by the Waymo company and other corporate interests.
What Happened in Committee?
During the committee hearing, members presented amendments to the consolidated package (SF 4618) that brought in elements from all three bills. This process is called a “delete everything (DE) amendment,” when the bill number stays the same, and all of the contents are amended.
Once the amendment was adopted, committee members offered additional amendments to further shape the bill. Some of the amendments came from GOP members and were not adopted, while others were considered “friendly” amendments and were added to the bill.
Our Streets’s leadership brings a win in putting those who bike, walk, roll, and use transit first.
Our Streets’ advocacy and collaboration with committee leaders led to the Transportation Committee’s introduction of an author’s amendment, carried by Senator Hemmingsen-Jaeger (DFL, 47).
The amendment improves upon the strong regulatory framework led by Senator Dibble, Senator McEwen, and Senator Maye Quade and achieves several important goals:
- Requires an independent safety verification of every CAV operator who wants to deploy in Minnesota to ensure safe interactions with all road users, with specific considerations for those who bike, walk, and roll
- Requires CAVs operating to avoid using transit corridors when driving without passengers, except when responding to a pickup request on the transit corridor, and must not interfere with transit vehicles when driving with passengers
- Requires operators to share anonymized travel data, including vehicle miles traveled and trip origin and destination data
- Empowers the state to impose fees to support programs to address the negative impacts identified by an advisory task force guiding the implementation of these vehicles
- Mandate all CAV vehicles be electric
Our Streets opposes the introduction of these systems on our streets, but this regulatory framework moves us toward protecting those who bike, walk, roll, and use public transportation, and guarding against the creation of a two-tiered mobility system that continues to put cars over people.
Our Streets will continue to lead the movement to make transportation governance accountable to the people of Minnesota.
What Comes Next for CAVs?
The committee passed the package out of committee, referring it to the Judiciary Committee for further discussion. The framework will have to move through the rest of the Senate before it reaches the floor, with committee stops in several other committees.
Because the House GOP backs frameworks that allow Waymo to operate without significant state and local oversight, it is unlikely that they will agree with the broader Senate package. This means a bill is unlikely in 2026, which would be a good outcome for Minnesotans, as there is no rush to move a bill this year. Doing so only helps the companies pushing these bills, not people across our state.
In the House
On Monday, March 23rd, Chair Brad Tabke (DFL, 54A) held the gavel in the House Transportation Committee.
This hearing, the last DFL-led hearing before committee deadlines, covered eight transportation-related bills. The lineup included routine fixes such as extending the vehicle title transfer deadline to 20 days (HF4062) and clarifying penalties for assaulting transit workers (HF4065), as well as several school bus safety updates covering stop requirements, first aid kits, and DOT numbers (HF4063). A broad omnibus bill led by MnDOT (HF3926) touched on railroad crossing bells, highway project cost thresholds and reporting, and other miscellaneous provisions.
Building on the policy discussions on CAVs in Minnesota, Representative Sencer-Mura introduced HF4216, which would create an advisory board and permit process for commercial autonomous vehicles. This bill includes language similar to that of Senator Dibble and Senator Maye Quade’s bills on CAVS, a framework built on strong regulations that protect Minnesotans from handing a blank check to big tech companies seeking to operate in our state, such as Waymo. Republicans opposed the bill on party lines, citing a desire to give the industry largely unrestricted ability to operate in Minnesota, but the bill provided a great opportunity to advance conversations beyond the Wyamo industry bill heard in committee.
Finally, the committee heard Rep. Koegel’s bill, HF3176, which calls for a passenger rail study to Fargo and Kansas City with federal funding applications. Expanding passenger rail across the state and region is a critical economic, environmental, and access policy that should receive additional study and funding.
The committee intended to pass the Fix-it-First bill to the committee on ways and means, but a MnDOT fiscal note stalled that effort. The bill is still laid over in the transportation committee for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.
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