MN Courts Rule Portion of a 2024 Law Unconstitutional

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Erin Huppert

In breaking news earlier this week, a Ramsey County district judge struck down a provision in a 2024 session law, which raises questions about future legislatures and how public policies, including aging services, may be enacted moving forward. 

The session law in question, coined the “Megabus Bill”, was enacted in the final minutes of the 2024 regular session. It was originally advanced as a tax bill before lawmakers added a number of omnibus supplemental budget and policy bills to the language. In total, over 1,400 pages were passed in a controversial voice vote before adjournment.  
 
No immediate impact to aging services 

There is nothing immediate to be done. Many of the provisions in the Megabus bill related to aging were separately passed by both chambers as a stand-alone human services omnibus law, in addition to being folded into the 1,400 page bill. As a result, those specific budget and policy items would remain intact, even if the Megabus bill was stricken in its entirety.   

A deeper look 

The judge’s ruling was narrowly crafted to apply only to the issue raised by plaintiffs, but he left the door open to other legal challenges. Most intriguing to note, his ruling acknowledges the increasingly common practice of the legislature to rely on omnibus bills to enact laws. His ruling, along with subsequent opinions from other legal experts, has re-ignited an ongoing debate about the application of omnibus bills that make sweeping changes to the state’s budget and regulatory environment.  

For our sector, this practice has both helped aging services in providing vehicles to advance our policy objectives but has also produced setbacks when an unfavorable policy is incorporated into a larger bill that has majority support. It remains to be seen how this decision will impact the 2026 Legislature, which is scheduled to convene on February 17th of next year.