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ST. PAUL — Minnesota lawmakers announced Tuesday that they are looking to provide higher education aid to law enforcement officers and their children.
Lawmakers at a Tuesday, March 15 press conference said SF2931 and HF2454, would establish a law enforcement grant program to cover tuition costs for licensed officers, children of licensed officers and children of officers who have been disabled in the line of duty. Grants stemming from the legislation — authored by Sen. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, and Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud — would be designated for use within one semester, term or equivalent period of time.
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The grant program is limited to institutions of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities of the University of Minnesota and would fund individuals studying “in the field of criminal justice, law enforcement, or a similar field,” according to bill language.
Mark Ross, President of the St. Paul Police Federation, said Tuesday that Minnesota is currently facing a shortage of up to 1,000 law enforcement officers. Ross said an estimated 2,500 to 2,700 officers across the state are also nearing retirement age.
“For the last four years, we have had a robust discussion about how we were going to address this crisis,” Ross said. “We know it’s coming. We’re in the midst of it, and we’re doing everything we can to avoid this.”
Wolgamott said at Tuesday’s press conference that he is figuring out the scope of the grant program and what it would cost the state.
“As far as how many people will be able to apply for this, those are details that we’ll be working out through the legislative process,” Wolgamott said. “We still don’t know what our budget is going to look like in the Higher Education Committee. I know that the finance chairs are negotiating that right now, but we do know that this is a crisis.”
The bill would allocate one-time funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year to launch the program.
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The House bill, HF2454, had its first hearing on Tuesday in the House Higher Education Committee and was laid over for possible inclusion in a larger bill. The Senate bill, SF2931 , was introduced on Monday and has been referred to the Higher Education Committee. Both bills have bipartisan support, with multiple Republican co-authors in the Senate and the House.
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