New Minnesota Laws You Should Know for 2016

It’s a new year and that means some new state laws have now gone into effect in Minnesota. Here are a few of the new laws for 2016 that might have an impact on you.

Proof of Insurance
Starting this year, anyone who registers or renews registration on their vehicle will have to show proof of insurance. Previously, you would simply be asked if you had insurance coverage for your vehicle, with a simple answer of “yes” being adequate. The hope is that by making people prove that they are insured, it will cut down on the number of uninsured drivers in the state.

Wincentives
You’re probably wondering what a “wincentive” is. The answer is that, in order to help promote saving money, banks and credit unions are now allowed to create "wincentives" which are basically raffles to reward people for putting their money in the bank. The idea is that people will now have a chance win prizes from their bank or credit union just by depositing funds into their savings account. Look for several Minnesota financial institutions to offer new programs that revolve around this new law.

License Plate Readers
For those of you unfamiliar with these, they are basically devices operated by law enforcement agencies that photograph or otherwise capture information contained on license plates. The new law limits what data can be captured with the devices and allows that information to be stored for no more than 60 days.

Volunteer Firefighter Benefits
A majority of the state’s firefighters are volunteers or on-call employees and not full-time workers. A new law extends health benefits to the families of volunteer firefighters who are killed while on duty.

Many other laws that were passed in 2015 had already gone into effect before the new year, including several dealing with healthcare, education and home ownership. Here's a complete list of laws passed in 2015.