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Little by little, agreements are coming together in the final week of the Minnesota Legislature’s session, including one to take on the fast-spreading use of prediction markets.

Lawmakers are racing to complete their work by Sunday night because Minnesota’s Constitution doesn’t allow them to approve legislation on the final day, which is Monday.

Negotiators from the closely divided Senate and the tied House picked away at lower-tier proposals while legislative leaders searched for the big deal that will pave the way for action on matters such as school and Capitol security, hospital stabilization and an array of publicly financed construction projects.

A proposal to ban prediction markets — like Kalshi and Polymarket — is included in 

 agreed upon by a set of House and Senate lawmakers. 

The proposal makes it a felony to host or advertise a prediction market in the state. The sites allow users to wager on a broad range of future events. People involved in creating, managing or facilitating the sites could face felony charges under the bill. 

The legislation lays out some of the kinds of trades that lawmakers consider part of the wagering restrictions: athletic events, games of skill, wars or natural emergencies, actions by government entities such as criminal or civil trials and mass casualty events.

. But the sites don't pay state taxes and operate under commodity trading laws.

Opponents anticipate lawsuits. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued other states over regulations for the prediction market sites. 

The Senate approved the bill Tuesday and the House could act on it soon.

Votes are also ahead on bills to require age monitoring and verification of users of social media platforms.

The proposal, due for a floor vote Tuesday in the House and in a key committee in the Senate on Wednesday, 

 to create an account for a child under 16 years of age. More addictive features like infinite scrolling and targeted paid ads cannot be displayed for children’s accounts. 

Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, has been spearheading the legislation in the House. Scott told MPR News’ Morning Edition on Tuesday that an important aspect to the bill is it’s not “content focused” it’s “design focused.”

“If a parent approves a social media account for their kid that's under 16 years old, that account will look different,” Scott said.

“The push notifications, the infinite scrolling, the ads, those sorts of things will be gone.”

For Scott, the goal of this bill is simple: “I'm hoping to prevent addiction.” Scott says she’s seen the toll on children's mental health and safety that social media can take.

The proposal has bipartisan support in both chambers.

The Senate version needs clearance by that chamber’s Rules and Administration Committee to move ahead because it came together after committee deadlines. That consideration is happening on Wednesday.

State lawmakers are primed to boost the penalty for impersonating a police officer following a fatal shooting of a former House speaker and wounding of another legislator.

House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman was killed by a man disguised as an officer. State Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, was targeted by the same suspect. Both of their spouses were also shot, with Mark Hortman fatally struck.

Hoffman said impersonating an officer is a serious offense and the penalty should be hiked to reflect that. On Tuesday, Hoffman described to his colleagues in the Senate Finance Committee the moment of confusion he experienced when he opened his door in the middle of the night to someone he thought was law enforcement. Hoffman saw “all the necessary lights and sirens and looking like that person was a police officer,” but as soon as he realized the man wasn’t police, “that was when I first received that first bullet, and then eight after that."

Convictions could lead to prison time. The House passed the bill unanimously in April and a final vote on the proposal on the Senate floor is expected this week.

Vance Boelter faces multiple federal charges and remains jailed.

A bill that would ramp up safety around e-bikes cleared the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday with bipartisan support.

The legislation would require anyone under 18 to wear a helmet while riding an e-bike and closes a loophole sellers use to sell motorcycles as e-bikes. Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart, DFL- Minnetonka, is the chief sponsor in the Senate. Johnson Stewart said communities across Minnesota are seeing the use of e-bikes spreading, especially among kids.

“These e-bikes are being used by children who are not legal to ride them. They're traveling very fast and very unsafely. They don't have helmets,” she said.

Johnson Stewart said safety on e-bikes is a high priority for several city officials and more guardrails are needed. 

A few lawmakers pushed for clarity around the distinction between an e-bike, a motorized bicycle and a motorcycle. One of them, Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, questioned the call to hire a state bike safety coordinator.

“This seems like it's kind of a make-work position,” he said. 

The bill is now headed to the Senate floor.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates on other proposals moving forward throughout the day.

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The Legislature is chipping away at its to-do list as the session winds down. A prediction market ban proposal is headed toward final votes soon.

Prediction market ban, other bills edge toward votes at Minnesota Capitol

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