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Update for February 5, 2010

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The Minnesota Legislature met, they convened and we’re off and running!!
The bonding bill, the Governor’s budget, the February (state budget) forecast—due out in March—as well as the 2010 elections will all have a part here over the next few weeks at the Capitol. If you want to follow closely how these and other events will affect public schools, stay tuned. If you know others who could use this information, please encourage them to sign on to receive our weekly updates!

A bit about Parents United Legislative Updates
We believe “information is the currency of democracy," and Parents United strives to provide you with the necessary information on education issues for you to participate fully in our democracy.

First, security: We never sell email addresses and we never pass along those addresses.

Next, what you can expect: Weekly, throughout the session, we provide information on education bills being considered at the Capitol, analysis of the legislative process in understandable language, practical information about what you can do to affect that process, the dates for important education events, links to the newest reports and archived news articles from across the state, and the opportunity to network with others.

Who else is reading this newsletter and visiting our website? Our newsletter is distributed to parents and other interested folks in ALL 134 legislative districts in Minnesota. Our Parents United website averages over 500 hits a day and in 2009 alone had 55,000 visitors.

You are in VERY GOOD COMPANY!

What Can I Do?

1. Plug phone numbers into your cell phone for the Governor's office (651-296-3391) and your State Representative and Senator (Find your legislators). They will need to hear from you during this legislative session!
   
   
2. Create an email group for your elected officials and bookmark the contact page for those without direct email.
   
   
3. Become a friend of Parents United on Facebook.
   
   
4. Follow Mary Cecconi’s tweets during the legislative session.
   
   
5. Read and respond to our updates and action alerts.

In this issue

At the Capitol
Legislative Advisory Commission held the day before session began!
House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Sen. Lawrence J. Pogemiller convened this meeting to provide an opportunity for Commissioner Tom Hanson (Minnesota Management and Budget, formerly the Department of Finance) to update the members on the state’s cash flow situation and to provide the opportunity for review and consultation prior to the issuance of certificates of indebtedness.
 
This was a fascinating meeting—here are a few highpoints:

Regarding the state budget: In addition to delaying the payments that the state is allowed to delay — to higher education, to school districts and tax refunds — the state is also “inter-fund borrowing.” This means that they take from MN State Colleges and Universities, the Health Impact Fund and the Health Care Access Fund, among others, to provide the cash needed to pay current bills.

In a report by the National Council of State Legislatures Minnesota is second only to Alaska as to the percentage of one-time monies used to “balance” the state budget.

In the event the state must borrow: The Commissioner plans to seek a Request for Proposal (RFP) from potential lenders. This RFP will request a line of credit or the private placement of Certificates of Indebtedness therefore allowing the state to borrow an amount not to exceed $600 million. At this point, this action is precautionary. The state has only borrowed funds once in the last 100 years — in 1984.  The legislature may only advise on this action.

Parameters surrounding the state’s borrowing:

• These certificates become a general obligation of the state and the security for the loan is the “State’s full faith and taxing power.”
  
  
• In the event that the state should borrow money the source of repayment is “collections of taxes levied for and other revenues appropriated to the state’s general fund during the current biennium ending June 30, 2011.”
  
  
• These certificates of indebtedness will be repaid with certainty. In the event that the state does not have the necessary funds for repayment, our state auditor MUST LEVY PROPERTY TAX in an amount to repay the certificates. 

K-12 Education Policy and Oversight: House K-12 Finance Division, House Higher Education and Economic Development Division, Senate E-12 Education Division, Senate Higher Education Division
It is somewhat extraordinary that so many committees across the education spectrum meet at one time, in one location. In an effort to have a more cohesive vision of education from early care/early education through higher education, a joint committee met this week to hear a presentation by Naviance and their pilot work here in Minnesota. 

In this issue

A Look Ahead
Two interesting meetings are scheduled for next week. On Tuesday, Feb 9, the House Education Policy Committee is discussing members’ priorities for education policy and has solicited testimony from education groups as to their policy priorities for the coming year. This is always an interesting way to assess the landscape.

And also on Tuesday, in House K-12 Education Finance the Office of Legislative Auditor presents its evaluation report on alternative learning programs.

On Thursday, Feb. 11, the Senate Education committee is listening to a presentation on the school payment shifts. These early hearings always provide a great deal of necessary background.   

The particulars for these and all the Education committee hearings can be found on our website. Check it out! 

At the Website

Bookmark our News and Events page: it’s updated daily!

• Release of the Minnesota Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity at the Capitol Rotunda on February 18, 9:30 a.m.
  
  
• For moms who have made a real difference in the fight for better schools: Parenting Magazine is sponsoring the first Mom Congress on Education and Learning at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in May. Application deadline: March 15, 2010
  
  
• Get a conversation started! Ideas for Change in America 2010: Education — Submit ideas you would like to see implemented, discuss ideas with others, and vote on the top ideas from across the country.

In this issue