Several new laws took effect in Minnesota this month. They address issues related to agriculture, child care, community food shelves, the state’s “move over law,” service animals, sex trafficking, the “Safe Seniors Act” and more.

A full list of new legislation is available at tinyurl.com/ya423lrg.

Some of the highlights are:

AGRICULTURE

Exemptions broadened for commodity transport

A new law broadens exemptions to rules that relate to agricultural transportation. It expands the definition of harvest season to year-round for an hours of service exemption in intrastate transportation of agricultural commodities and farm supplies within a 150-mile radius.

Hours of service requirements are federal regulations governing the amount of driving time, rest periods and logging of on-duty and rest times for commercial motor carriers.

The law also incorporates a federal exemption into state statute to establish a year-round harvest season. That applies a federal exemption from hours of service rules concerning interstate transportation of commodities and farm supplies.

BUSINESS

Transparency for contractors and adjusters

Residential contractors and insurance adjusters must now have to provide consumers with written notification in the initial home repair estimate that they cannot cover any part of the insurance deductible.

Residential contractors – roofers, building contractors and remodelers – who work on insurance-claimed properties already cannot build the deductible into their estimates. The new law requires the estimates to point to that prohibition in statute.

Protecting seniors from financial fraud

The so-called “Safe Seniors Act” is intended to help fight financial fraud. It gives broker dealers and investment advisors the authority to report suspected financial exploitation of seniors to the Department of Commerce or the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center.

Investment advisors and broker dealers can often see when someone is trying to financially exploit seniors or other vulnerable populations – individuals 65 and older, according to the law, or legally defined as vulnerable – and the act gives them the ability to report the potential threats to the state, and give law enforcement an opportunity to intervene.

Abuse-reporters are protected from civil and administrative liability.

The law allows a broker dealer or investment advisor to freeze seniors’ accounts or delay disbursements if they believe financial exploitation has occurred or will occur.

FAMILY

Custody rights of unmarried parents

A new law allows unmarried parents to file joint petitions for custody, parenting time and child support in family court when all the parties agree on the terms. Before the law, only formerly married parents could use the expedited process.

Unmarried parents are now be able to file the joint petition without a summons, so long as the petition includes a recognition of parentage that says there isn’t any other alleged or presumed father.

The law allows unmarried parents to appear in a hearing before a judge, but not have to go through the entire family court process.

HEALTH

Care of children with developmental disabilities

A new law exempts certain child care providers from the positive support strategies rule.

“Positive support strategies” in the context of human services means treatment that is ethical, person-centered and integrates the patient with the community. The positive support strategies rule prohibits home and community-based care and other providers licensed by the department, serving persons with developmental disabilities or related conditions, from “using punishment of any kind” as well as “speaking to a person in a manner that ridicules, demeans, threatens, or is abusive,” among other things.

The training section of the rule mandates that providers receive eight hours of training on topics including cultural competence, de-escalation techniques, appropriate use of restraints, and when staff is required to call 911.

Licensed child care programs serving children with developmental disabilities or related conditions do not have to follow the rule. Instead, they must follow the child’s individual child care program plan or individualized education program under existing Minnesota law.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Direct bid contracts with small businesses

A new law could help small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses get more county construction congracts

The law raises the threshold for counties to use direct bidding to $250,000, so long as the business is a certified small business enterprise or veteran-owned small business.

Grants to community food shelves

A new law allows towns to grant money to community food shelves, putting them on the same level as cities and counties. A town’s governing body may use money from its general fund or any other unrestricted money to provide grants to nonprofits that run community food shelves.

Cities and counties can recognize Purple Heart recipients

A new law gives local governments the authority to use resolutions to honor U.S. military personnel who have received the Purple Heart by designating a prominent parking space at government centers, and allows them to accept donations to pay for a sign stating they are a Purple Heart city or county.

The law also allows counties and cities to display a plaque on public property, as well as honor Purple Heart recipients by proclaiming Aug. 7 as Purple Heart Day.

PUBLIC SAFETY

DWI loophole for snowmobile, ATV use closed

A new law expands the prohibition on operating off-road vehicles following a DWI conviction and eliminates an exemption that alowed drivers to keep their licenses following an off-road vehicle DWI offense.

Under a prior law, a person who operated a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle while over the legal alcohol limit was prohibited from operating those off-road vehicles for one year. The updated law expands the prohibition so that it applies to a person who commits a DWI offense in any vehicle.

The new law also prohibits a person who commits a DWI offense in any vehicle from operating a motorboat for a 90-day period between May 1 and Oct. 31.

Service animals must be valid

A new law makes it a crime to knowingly misrepresent an animal in one’s possession as an assistance animal in a public place to obtain rights or privileges available to someone who qualifies for a service animal under state or federal law.

A first-time violation is a petty misdemeanor. Subsequent offenses are misdemeanors.

The law uses a federal definition to identify a service animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals. … The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. … The provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.”

Business may post a sign near an entrance stating service animals are welcome, but that it is a crime to misrepresent such an animal.

Mandated sex trafficking training for hotel employees

A new law mandates that every Minnesota hotel and motel, with the exception of resorts, train its employees to identify sex trafficking at their establishment within 90 days of hiring them or 120 days after enactment of a new law.

The law calls for the Department of Health to consult with the Minnesota Lodging Association and others to determine training that would be required. However, the training must include what sex trafficking is, as well as how to recognize trafficking victims and activities. Costs associated with the annual training will be paid for by the lodging facility.

An exemption is provided for minor employees, restaurant workers and those who do not have direct contact with guests. It also grants civil immunity for employees from being sued for reporting what they believe is sex trafficking.

Porn, sex trafficking data connection sought

A new law require the Department of Public Safety to collect information on how pornography supports sex trafficking through things like demand, grooming victims and creating additional revenue streams for traffickers.

The law expands the crimes for which the department must gather statistical data for its human trafficking report to include possession of pornographic work involving minors and prohibition of dissemination and display of harmful materials to minors. The report is published every two years.

The law also added crimes to the list of of prostitution-related offenses for which the court imposes an assessment between $500 and $1,000 in addition to any fine. Coercion, labor, trafficking, solicitation of a child and possession of pornographic work involving minors are a few of those crimes.

No kratom for minors

Keeping kratom away from minors is one goal of the annual drug scheduling law.

Kratom is an organic supplement that has been listed as an opioid, but not scheduled, by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Five states now categorize kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance, classifying it as a drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

Mixing kratom with alcohol or valium-like drugs creates an increased risk of a severe adverse reaction, including death. However, some people responsibly use kratom to manage pain.

Selling kratom to someone under age 18 is a gross misdemeanor. A minor possessing kratom can be charged with a misdemeanor.

The law also adds new drugs to the controlled substance schedules and contains a DWI-related provision. Provisions are put forth by the Board of Pharmacy.

TRANSPORTATION

Minnesota’s ‘move over law’ is broadened

A new law requires motorists to slow down on streets or highways with only one lane in the motorist’s direction when passing emergency vehicles – and other vehicles like tow trucks, road maintenance and utility vehicles – that are stopped on the side of the roadway with emergency or warning lights activated.

Similarly, if it’s not possible for a driver to move over on a multi-lane street or highway, drivers are required to reduce the speed of their motor vehicle to a speed “that is reasonable and prudent under the conditions” until the vehicle has completely passed the parked or stopped vehicle.