Legislative Updates
MNESTA Legislative Report May 2013
MNESTA's Government Relations Representative, David Fisch and incoming president Wendy Youngren attended the ESA sponsored Day on the Hill Event visiting with the Minnesota members of congress.
Job one this 2013 congressional session is the passage of our background check bill, HR-1441, The Electronic Life Safety and Security System Federal Background Check Act. HR-1441 directs the Attorney General to permit our industry access to the FBI database and to provide employers with relevant criminal history information on a voluntary basis.
Many other industries access this background check the alarm industry is long overdue in acquiring the same access.
MNESTA Legislative Report May 2012
MNESTA's Legislative Committee has worked hard this legislative session to represent the interests of our members before the Legislature.
Sixteen bills were introduced that either directly or indirectly affected MNESTA members. Since January, the Committee has monitored, appeared when necessary, and worked closely with other stake holders on all these bills. Regular reports were provided by the Committee over these several months.
During this period, eleven of the bills died for lack of a companion bill, failure to meet committee deadlines, failure to achieve a positive vote in committee to move the bill forward or strong opposition within the Legislature and/or outside opposition.
The six remaining bills, all important to MNESTA are outlined below.
Changes to Contractor Licenses and License Renewals
Effective Jan. 1, 2012, individuals and businesses will be able
to submit license renewals online. Holders of boiler, highpressure
piping, plumbing and water conditioning licenses
have already been able to renew their licenses online. This
capability will be expanded to building official, electrical,
mechanical bond, registered employer and residential
contractor licenses. A new feature will allow individuals and
businesses to attach required documents when submitting
their renewal. A license becomes available for online renewal
120 days before the license expiration date.
Minnesota Electrical Continuing Education Changes Effective October 1, 2011
As you may be aware, the 2011 Minnesota Legislature established a uniform continuing education (CE) program for licenses administered by the Department of Labor and Industry's Construction Codes and Licensing Division (CCLD).
The uniform CE program is based on the existing residential contractor CE program administered by CCLD, with additional features taken from the existing electrical CE program. In all, four independent CE activities administered by CCLD were consolidated into a single coordinated program. Electrical continuing education, building official continuing education, and manufactured home installer continuing education were brought together with residential contractor continuing education.
Read Full Document (pdf)
Board of Electricity Meeting, October 11, 2011
Dave and I attended the Board of Electricity meeting Tuesday, October 11. Other than the usual discussions, there was a presentation on the new capabilities that can be accessed on the DLI web site. Listed below are the items that were discussed:
Downloads
- Changes to Contractor Licenses and License Renewals (PDF)
- Minnesota Electrical Continuing Education Changes Effective October 1, 2011 (PDF)
- Board of Electricity Meeting, October 11, 2011 (PDF)
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