These new laws take effect in Minnesota as 2026 arrives

A new paid family and medical leave program launches Thursday along with several new laws aimed at providing break time for workers and adding legal protections for vulnerable adults.

The new laws will also impact boating fees and areas where hunters can shoot with shotguns. 

Some proposals passed under a DFL-trifecta at the Capitol in 2023, but most were adopted this year in the narrowly-split Legislature.

Here’s a look at the new laws taking effect when the calendar flips to 2026.

Paid family and medical leave

How does the paid leave program work?

It functions similarly to Minnesota’s unemployment insurance program. Employers and employees pay into the program. Workers can apply for time off when they have qualifying situations. They’ll receive partial wage replacement while they are away from work. When they return, they can expect to have their job back.

Who pays for it?

Workers and employers each pay a payroll tax that funds the paid leave. The 0.88 percent payroll tax will be evenly split between employers and employees. Lawmakers earmarked nearly $668 million in 2023 in initial funding for the account and $122 million to provide for its creation and administration. That installment was meant to get the program off the ground until the steady stream of funding from the payroll tax started to accrue.

Will I get my full pay?

No, workers who apply to get paid family and medical leave through the state program will get a portion of their typical paycheck. The amount will depend on a typical weekly salary. Those who have lower salaries or hourly pay get more through the program — up to 90 percent of their typical weekly pay. Those who make more will get a smaller percentage of their regular pay from the program. 

The Department of Employment and Economic Development has a calculator to estimate the pay replacement rates. The most someone could make is about $1,423 a week, the state’s average weekly wage.

How do I get paid?

People can opt for direct deposit or prepaid debit cards. Minnesotans will be able to pick which option they prefer during the application process.

How long am I eligible to take off?

It depends on what kind of leave is sought and the interaction between the family and medical leave. In broad strokes, a worker can take 12 weeks in a calendar year for family leave, such as caring for a new baby or bonding with an adopted child. They can also take 12 weeks of medical leave for themselves or a close relative. But in one year, leave tops out at 20 weeks combined.

Leave can come in one chunk or be spaced out on a more intermittent basis depending on a given situation. For example, a person could seek to take a number of days per week or month off to tend to medical appointments rather than be out entirely. But the annual cap would apply.

What kinds of situations are eligible for paid leave?

Leave eligibility breaks into two categories — medical leave and family leave.

Medical leave covers situations where a person needs to recover from an illness, injury condition, disorder or impairment. Workers would be eligible to take time off to heal, seek out treatment or evaluation or to recover. Minnesotans recovering from surgeries or pregnancy complications would be eligible for medical leave.

Under the other umbrella of family leave, workers could take time off to welcome a new child, care for a loved one with a health condition, recover from safety issues like domestic violence or sexual assault or to support a family member called to active duty in the military.

Which kinds of workers will fit into this program?

Almost all workers would be eligible for the benefits with the exception of Minnesotans who are self-employed, independent contractors and tribal nations. Though, those employees would have the option to opt into the program.

The law requires that people work at least 50 percent of the time in Minnesota to be eligible and have earned at least $3,700 in the last year. Workers who take paid leave will have protection assuring their role is there when they return from leave if they’ve been in the position for at least 90 days.

Who is considered a family member under the law?

The law allows for workers to take paid time off to care for their spouse or partner, child (and this would cover biological children, foster or adopted children, stepchildren or a child you raised), parent or person who raised you, a sibling, a grandchild or grandparent, family members in-law and anyone who counts on you like a family member would.

What if I had a baby in 2025?

Parents who welcomed a baby in 2025 would still be eligible for at least some paid family leave time under the program. Up to 12 weeks of paid family leave just needs to be completed within one year of the child’s birth or adoption. So someone who had a baby in April would need to complete paid leave prior to the child’s first birthday in April 2026.

How do I apply for leave?

The office recommends first notifying an employer of expected leave requests (though in some situations there are exemptions and options to back date applications). Then people seeking leave go through the Department of Employment and Economic Development to fill out an application, including medical documentation. An online application portal is scheduled to go live before Jan. 1.

Can I apply ahead of time?

Yes, Minnesota is going to be one of just a handful of states where applicants can submit ahead of welcoming a child or taking time off for a medical procedure. Minnesotans can access the application portal through DEED and get the details of their leave set up early. They will then have to follow up with medical paperwork confirming their reason for leave.

Can I take leave through this program if my work matches these benefits?

No, only workers whose employers don’t match the benefits available through the state program will be able to get partial pay through Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program. Employers that keep existing leave programs that measure up to or exceed the state offerings can opt out of the state program.Beginning Thursday, most Minnesota workers can access new paid family and medical leave benefits managed by the state. Under the program, workers and employers pay a payroll tax that will then allow workers to receive partial pay if they are recovering from a sickness or injury, caring for a loved one, bonding with a new baby or going through other defined situations.

About three-quarters of Minnesota workers will see more generous benefits than they have right now. Workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave and 12 weeks of paid family leave, with a cap between the two programs of 20 weeks within a year. They’ll also be protected against losing their position if they take paid leave and will have legal protection against retaliation from an employer.

Meal breaks at work

Workers will also have more clearly-timed breaks for using the restroom or eating meals while on the job. 

New laws spell out that employees will have a rest break of 15 minutes or enough time to seek out the nearest convenient restroom for every four hours worked. They’ll have a 30-minute window for a meal break for every six consecutive hours they work. That’s different from the “adequate time” standard currently that has been on the books.

Minimum wage increases

The state’s minimum wage will be increased to $11.41 an hour after being adjusted for inflation starting on Thursday. That’s an increase from the current $11.13 rate per hour. The 90-day training wage for workers under the age of 20 will also grow by 2.5 percent to $9.31 per hour. Workers in Minneapolis and St. Paul will see higher rates because their employers are subject to local minimum-wage rules.

Absentee ballot access

Minnesotans applying to request an absentee ballot will be asked to provide both a Minnesota driver’s license number or state identification card number, along with the last four digits of their social security number if they apply online. There’s an exception if a person certifies they don’t have one of those numbers.

Voters will also see clearer labels on sample ballots they receive by mail. Organizations that send them out need to note that they aren’t official government election communications and aren’t being sent at the request of government officials. They also need to note that the sample ballot can’t be cast as an official ballot.

There had been confusion in recent years about advocacy organizations sending out sample ballots that looked similar to official absentee ballots.

Protecting older adults from financial abuse

Another law would create an expedited court process to block a potential bad actor from  financially exploiting a vulnerable adult. 

Under the policy, a vulnerable adult could ask the court to prohibit contact with someone if they are financially exploiting them or posing a risk of irreparable harm to the vulnerable person. 

The court would then have 14 days to hold a hearing and could opt to freeze the person’s assets and lines of credit if it’s determined the adult is at risk of a scam or exploitation. Victims of fraud could also receive restitution from a new fund set up through the state. Lawmakers approved that policy this year and it is set to take effect in 2026.

Water fees

The Minnesota Legislature voted earlier this year to raise the fees that farmers, cities, businesses and industries pay for a permit to use groundwater or water from lakes or rivers. They’ll also pay higher annual fees for reporting their water use.

Jason Moeckel, assistant director of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ ecological and water resources division, said the higher fees will help the DNR add staff to handle increasingly complex permit requests in areas with water challenges.

“It’s going to help us be more timely so people can be in compliance and they can have the permits that they need, and we can assure Minnesotans that we’re using our water sustainably,” Moeckel said.

Starting Jan. 1, the application fee for a water-use permit is $600, up from $150. The annual reporting fees vary based on the amount of water used.

Farmers don’t welcome the higher fees, especially in a tough agricultural economy, said Jake Wildman, president of the Irrigators Association of Minnesota. But Wildman said he hopes the additional revenue will allow the DNR to speed up the permit approval process, which he said can drag out for years.

Watercraft surcharges

Starting Jan. 1, Minnesotans will pay a higher surcharge on boats and other watercraft licenses to help pay for controlling aquatic invasive species.

State lawmakers raised the annual watercraft AIS surcharge from the current $10.60 to between $14 and $62, depending on the boat size, type and use. A watercraft license is valid for three years.

The last time the AIS surcharge was raised was 2019, said Kelly Pennington, supervisor of the invasive species unit at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 

“I think really the reasoning behind it was just to keep up with our increasing challenges in Minnesota for managing aquatic invasive species and the increasing costs that go along with that,” Pennington said.

The vast majority of boat owners will see an increase of less than $10 a year on their watercraft registrations, she said.

The higher surcharge will allow the DNR to increase the amount of grants it provides to local governments and organizations to control aquatic invasive species in lakes and rivers, Pennington said.

No shotgun zones

Starting this week, deer hunters in southern Minnesota will no longer be restricted to using shotguns, muzzleloaders or handguns to hunt during the firearm season. The area where the restrictions were in place was known as the “shotgun zone.” 

It was established to increase deer numbers in areas where populations were low. 

Paul Burr, the state Department of Natural Resources’ big game program coordinator, said the nearly 80-year-old law wore out its usefulness. 

“It’s an antiquated law. Shotgun technology has come so far, a lot of them are comparable to rifles, I would argue,” Burr said. “So that restriction on hunters by limiting them to shotguns doesn’t really make much sense anymore.”

Burr said that’s coupled with the fact that the deer population in the southern part of the state has really rebounded. Counties in the former zone can still adopt ordinances to counteract the law change.

This story was originally published by MPR News.