March 12, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

The drumbeat of HOA legislation is picking up in St. Paul. Lynn and I spent the morning at the state capitol yesterday and met with various legislators and other HOA industry experts about the flurry of bills under consideration.  You can read a roundup of our visit HERE.

While we were there, they advanced a bill that will prohibit HOAs from banning additional types of flags under state law. Today, HOAs are allowed to ban any flags from being flown in their communities except the American flag and the Minnesota flag. That means flags that honor veterans, POWs, and a host of other flags can be prohibited by boards under current law.

The new bill was introduced by Jeff Witte-R, who is in my district. From Alpha News:

Authored by Republican Rep. Jeff Witte, HF 2185 would add the prisoner of war/missing in action flag, the Blue Star Service flag, the Gold Star Service flag, and U.S. military branch flags to the list of banners that are immune from HOA restrictions.

Amazing that such flags would be banned by anyone, but it’s the Wild West out there sometimes.

Then came the amendment idea:

During committee discussion of HF 2185, DFL Rep. Mike Freiberg tried to amend the bill so that HOA residents could fly any flag they want without interference from their HOA.

Representative Drew Roach-R, another legislator who Lynn and I met with yesterday, was vehemently against the amendment:

Roach said Freiberg’s amendment “disputes itself” and is “contradictory” because it allows the display of any flag but also limits the display of any flag “based off of what someone deems is incitement.”

The amendment died on a voice vote.  In the end:

After Freiberg’s amendment was defeated, Republican Rep. Ben Davis made a motion to send HF 2185 to the General Register, the last stop before a bill is considered by the full House. That motion was approved in a unanimous voice vote.

Read the article from Alpha News HERE.