Last week, a bill was introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate that would improve the permitting process in Minnesota. Greater Mankato Growth had a chance to testify in favor of HF 8 on Thursday, February 13, in the House Environment Committee. A companion bill in the Senate, SF 570, has bipartisan support, with Sen. Hauschild (DFL-Hermantown) as the chief author and Sen. Nick Frentz (DFL-North Mankato) as a co-author. A coalition of business and labor leaders, including Greater Mankato Growth, participated in a press conference to outline the need for permitting reform in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Chamber Foundation completed a comprehensive report in 2024 outlining many of the challenges in Minnesota and how state agencies can improve. Unfortunately, Minnesota has developed a reputation for being a difficult place to invest in business expansion, particularly for operations requiring Tier 2 permits. Minnesota takes an average of 656 days to approve a permit, whereas other states take significantly fewer: Iowa averages 109 days, Wisconsin 121 days, and Illinois just 110 days.

You can view Andy Wilke’s testimony below: