Committee advances bill to name state office building for Melissa Hortman

Chair Cleborn asked the committee to move House File 3455 — a bill to name a state office building for Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman — to Ways and Means, saying the measure grew out of petitions from Capitol staff and members of the public.

Brooklyn Park resident Jodi Anderson Wilhelpter, who said she organized an online petition, told the committee she represents 2,235 signers from 38 states and six countries and called the renaming ‘‘a fitting, living memorial’’ to Hortman’s bipartisan leadership. ‘‘This is not about politics. This is about common humanity and the dignity of honoring our own,’’ Wilhelpter said.

Multiple committee members, including Representative Nash and Representative Bonner, described Hortman as an ‘‘institutionalist’’ who emphasized civility and bipartisan problem-solving. Chair Cleborn and several members recounted personal memories and urged the committee to send the bill to the next budget-oriented committee so lawmakers can consider it further.

The committee attached an A1 amendment that directs the Commissioner of Administration to absorb costs to modify or replace signage to conform with the bill’s requirements. After brief discussion the committee approved the A1 amendment by voice vote and then moved HF3455 to Ways and Means as amended.

The action sends the bill to a committee that will consider fiscal implications; the sponsor said the goal is to return the measure to the floor for a vote and ultimately enactment.