Minnesota Statutes Effective Dates of Laws

The session law citations for 1973 and subsequent sessions which follow the text of sections include designated effective dates. The absence of a date means that the general effective date applies or that the date for appropriation acts apply, or that other variations described in notes are controlling.

M.S.A. § 645.02, as amended by Laws 1959, c. 368, § 4; Laws 1971, c. 196, § 1, and Laws 1987, c. 384, art. 1, § 48, provides:

“Each act, except one making appropriations, enacted finally at any session of the legislature takes effect on August 1 next following its final enactment, unless a different date is specified in the act. A special law required to be approved by the local government unit affected before it goes into effect becomes effective as to the approving unit the day following the day on which the certificate of approval prescribed by section 645.021 is filed with the secretary of state, unless a later date is specified in the act. When approval of such a special law is required by two or more local government units before it may become effective, the day after the day when the last of the required certificates is filed is the effective date, unless a later date is specified in the act.

“An appropriation act or an act having appropriation items enacted finally at any session of the legislature takes effect at the beginning of the first day of July next following its final enactment, unless a different date is specified in the act.

“Each act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day it becomes effective, unless a different time is specified in the act.”

Prior to the 1971 amendment of M.S.A. § 645.02, the general effective date for session laws was one day following final enactment. Final enactment was construed to be the date the bill was signed by the Governor.Laws 1988, c. 479, § 5, effective January 1, 1989 amended the definition of “final enactment” or “enacted finally” contained in § 645.01, subd. 2 to read:

“ ‘Final enactment’ or ‘enacted finally’ for a bill passed by the legislature and signed by the governor means the date and time of day the governor signed the bill. For a bill passed by the legislature and allowed to become law without signature by the governor, it means the end of the last day on which the governor could have returned the bill with a veto to the legislature. For a bill passed by the legislature but vetoed and reconsidered and approved by the legislature after the veto, it means the date and time of day of the final legislative vote approving the vetoed bill.”

Beginning on January 1, 1973, the general effective date of “on August 1 next following its final enactment”, as now appearing in section 645.02, went into effect. The following tabulation indicates the last date session laws were signed for each session since the 1973 session. With the exception of the 1982 3rd Special Session and the 1989 1st Special Session, the general effective date for all laws of all sessions since 1973 was August 1st of the year of the session. The 1982 3rd Special Session contained no legislation with general effective dates.