A couple of years ago the MSBA Construction Law Section Legislative Committee (consisting of Scott Andresen of Bassford Remele and Dean Thomson of Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson PA), with the help of the Construction Law Section Council, drafted and proposed legislation to give original jurisdiction to district courts for public procurement actions (bid protests). The action came in response to the Rochester Lines case, in which the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that some portions of an action needed to be filed in district court while other portions needed to be filed with the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Section approved the legislation in 2018, but there were other legislative priorities at the time.
This year, the Section’s legislation was designated as an MSBA priority and lobbyist Bryan Lake was tasked with the lobbying efforts at the Capitol (see “2019 Legislative Session Recap”). The efforts of Bryan Lake and the Legislative Committee were successful: The bill was signed into law on May 10 and became effective immediately. Here is a link to the legislation: www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2019/0/Session+Law/Chapter/21/