With the Stroke of Midnight, Several New Laws Went Into Effect

(KNSI) – At the stroke of midnight on January 1st, a host of new laws went into effect in Minnesota.

The laws range from expanding healthcare coverage to additional restrictions on guns. A new law aimed at so-called “junk” fees prohibits sellers or businesses from advertising or offering a price for goods or services that don’t include all fees or surcharges. This includes “health and safety fees,” which have become popular to help cover workers’ insurance and benefits so restaurant operators don’t have to raise prices.

With the start of the New Year, any place with 30 or more workers must clearly state the starting salary or hourly rate in each job posting. The salary range cannot be open-ended. Speaking of salaries, the minimum wage will be adjusted for inflation and set at $11.13 an hour. The training wage rate will be $9.08 an hour.

One provision in a new healthcare package requires health plans offered, sold, issued or renewed in 2025 to provide coverage for abortions. There are exemptions for religious objections and are are allowed to not cover some or all benefits for abortion-related services; however, health plan companies must cover them. A new law also requires health plans to cover “medically necessary gender-affirming care.”

The state is expanding Medicaid and Medical Assistance coverage. The Minnesota Department of Human Services says children eligible for MA will now have uninterrupted coverage until age six. The same law requires qualifying 19- and 20-year-olds to be given MA for 12 months at a time.

A provision taking effect in 2025 also prohibits health plans from charging patient co-pays higher than $25 per month supply of prescription drugs used to treat chronic diseases. A $50 cap is also set for all related supplies, such as syringes, insulin pens, asthma inhalers and other items.

Guns featuring a binary trigger are outlawed. A binary trigger effectively doubles a gun’s rate of fire. The suspect in a triple homicide involving three Burnsville first responders used a binary trigger when he opened fire on the morning of February 18th, 2024. In response, lawmakers passed the ban.

Also, a new state law allows a certain range of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses to become automatically expunged. It’s called the Clean Slate Act and aims to allow those with such offenses on their record to move forward without having past convictions hanging over their heads.

Learn more about all new laws here.

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