House File 3550 is a more reasonable and harder negotiation than HF 65; the new bill would merely make the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) curriculum standards (which MDE, in effect, uses to dictate a short list of supposedly required curricula) not mandatory, rather than rescinding the state agency takeover from local districts entirely. HF 65 had said the Rulemaking authorization was rescinded.

The issue is that the agency has not disavowed the multifariously illegal and hazardous pseudo-pedagogy and curriculum standards that it demonstrated in the Summer of 2025, with Draft 2, which is honestly more perverse than most people would believe. (See info about Draft 2 to see for yourself.)

The agency now wants to look like its forcefulness is subdued, but there is no written indication, whatsoever, that the agency would not enforce its current radically slimmed down rule text to impose a restriction of health instructional materials that were its intended choices with Draft 2. Thus it may look different, but there is no delineation the hazard of Draft 2 is not as much present.

Furthermore, the agency and "standards" staff are the sloppiest and most capricious and hostile to democracy and public oversight that the agency has ever had, in its entire history.

For months there was a final Hearing scheduled for March 16th & 17th before an Administrative Law Judge, they have privately responded to emails that that Hearing is cancelled, but they had made no general communication to the hundreds of persons who still have that on their calendar. They do not tire of new and compounding ways to violate Administrative Procedure and Law, as readily nullified the process; thus HF 3550 or HF 65 is entirely justified.

Every Legislator must vote for HF3550 or a Senate equivalent or face constituents angry that a dumpster fire agency division is not being contained for those not wanting a false gospel of trans radicalism and extreme dose drug-experimentation in the next generation.

Mike McCarthy's Testimony on Health Rulemaking Violations

Update on HF 3550

The MN House of Representatives Education Policy Committee was briefed on February 24, 2026 by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) on its proposed mandatory, statewide health standards rulemaking. Pending before the Committee was H.F. 3550 preserving local school authority to set its K-12 education. Mike McCarthy testified in favor of H.F. 3550 noting that after nearly 2 years of rulemaking, MDE still could not, or would not, say what education would be mandated as a result of its rule. 

Watch Mr. McCarthy’s verbal testimony is available in the above video at the 50:00 mark. 

Written testimony on the failed rulemaking process is here. 

Written supplemental testimony outlining what health education MDE wrongly excludes from its proposal in favor of ideological indoctrination is here.

H.F. 3550, preserving local health education authority, is also here.

Held over in Committee H.F.-3550, would provide vital relief for locally elected school boards to thoughtfully meet the health education needs of their students. It is especially urgent in light of the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) failure to conduct a good faith public process in its 2025 K-12 Academic Standards in Health Rulemaking (Revisor’s ID No. R-04924, CAH Docket No. 65-9005-40585).   

This rulemaking has resulted in a failed product (a proposed education rule failing to state what education it will mandate), resulting from a failed process riddled with omissions and errors.   

View the Education Policy Hearing on February 24th: