This Week At the Capitol

There have been two requirements for this session: pass a bonding bill and pass a supplemental budget to deal with the state deficit. HF1671, the supplemental budget bill, is currently being reconciled in conference committee and is expected to be up for a floor vote on Monday, March 29.

A lot of “ifs” remain! Two variables that are still up in the air: the Supreme Court decision on unallotment and the possibility of revenue from federal sources. If approximately $658 million comes from federal money and is added to the $313 million cuts now in HF1671, the budget is “balanced” – kind of. If the federal dollars do not materialize, the Health and Human Services and E-12 budgets will need to be significantly cut. Of course, all of this presupposes that no state taxes can be increased. It’s time for a balanced approach to our budget deficit ($994 million this year) –
we cannot simply keep cutting and expect our students to be ready for the 21st century!

If we get the federal dollars, two-thirds of the money used to balance Minnesota’s budget will be coming from the federal government and half of the “budget balancing act” will be based on one-time money – yet again. The irony is palpable: some are wagging a finger at federal spending while reaping the rewards in their home states. One thing is for sure: critical state decisions are still being put off until next year.

Having passed the bonding bill and working toward this budget balancing act, rumor has it that the legislative session may end early. The rumor may be credible since the party endorsing conventions come at the end of April and beginning of May – a new phenomenon.

In this issue

House K-12 Education Finance Division
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville)
Capitol discussions this week have been Solomon’s choices: Do we keep schools open that fulfill special needs for kids, e.g., kids who are deaf or struggling with sobriety? Are these schools of greater value than other schools? How do we decide? And since the political landscape makes it impossible for state taxes to be raised, how do we do that?

We will need to go to local property taxes to keep schools afloat. And do we then allow districts that are renewing existing referendum to do so without once again going to the voter, as was the law up until the mid-1990s? Do we allow local districts to levy for pension costs to fill a funding void left by the state? Do we allow school boards discretionary levy authority of up to $200 per pupil each year the state does not add dollars to the formula?

All of these discussions are symptomatic: To keep what we have, we need additional revenue.

All ideas for discretionary levy authority are based on the premise that the education divisions will have levy targets, that is, money that they can spend providing levy authority to districts. There is no sense of optimism that there will be levy targets. This leads to another big question that has been floating around the Capitol this week, “Is there a need for a 2010 E-12 Education Omnibus Bill?” The codifying of school payment shifts can be placed in a tax bill, and many of the policy bills have fiscal implications and no money to spend on them. So we may not see an education bill this year.

Senate E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Leroy Stumpf (DFL-Thief River Falls)
Again, so many of these bills (see List of Bills, below) are asking in some way, shape or form – please save this program, or this school, or this revenue stream. The mantra of this year: “If we don’t have enough to save all, at least save this one!” How is an elected official to decide? Some good ideas are emerging, but if there is a cost to the state budget, all bets are off.

Early Childhood Finance and Policy School
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik (DFL-Maplewood)
The Office of Early Learning has been taken out of HF3225. Provisions that have fiscal notes (cost money!!), no matter how important they may be, will have difficulty prevailing in this climate. One can only hope that this climate changes quickly, before we totally devastate our schools.

In this issue

A Look Ahead
After HF1671 is passed off the floor, things will be quiet until after the Easter-Passover Recess. Then we may know more about the possibility of federal money, the unallotment decision, and levy targets for the funding divisions.

Bills to Watch

• HF3063 (Newton-DFL-Coon Rapids) SF 2769 (Betzold-DFL-Fridley) School district authorized to renew an expiring referendum by action of the school board
• HF3503 (Newton DFL-Coon Rapids) SF3088 (Lynch-DFL-Rochester) School districts authorized to levy pay costs attributable to increase in employer contribution rates for pension plans.
• HF3699 (Greiling-DFL-Roseville) SF 3317 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) School district discretionary levy authorized.
• HF3155 (Benson-DFL-Minnetonka) SF 2805 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) Referendum allowance limit increased for certain school districts.

From the Website

Find these articles — and much, much more — at our News & Events page!

• Organizing Apprenticeship Project publishes the 2009 Minnesota Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity
  
  
• March 11, 2010 - Governor's revised budget recommendations - Includes updates to K-12 funding, Minnesota Management & Budget.
  
  
• Supplemental budget bill is now in conference committee
  
  
• Side by Side Comparisons of House and Senate bills
  
  
• Support a balanced approach to the state's budget shortfall, attend an Invest in Minnesota event in Rochester or Woodbury
  
  
• Raiders of the lost fund - Minnesota looks to Utah for ways to generate revenues for schools

In this issue

List of Bills

House K-12 Education Finance

• HF2887 (Drazkowski) Independent School District No. 858, St. Charles, disaster aid funding and declining pupil unit aid appropriation used to help the city cover revenue losses.
• HF3404 (Mariani) Aid payment schedule modified for certain charter schools.
• HF2867 (Newton) Child with a disability definition clarified and obligations to children with disabilities specified.
• HF3487 (Newton) Conciliation conference requirements clarified, and Minnesota Department of Education directed to amend two special education rules.
• HF2885 (Davnie) Capital project referendum ballot language modified in cases where the same level of taxing authority is renewed.
• HF3237 (Huntley) Health care provisions changed relating to education plan requirements, health access program, private nursing coverage, children's health insurance reauthorization act, long-term care, asset transfers, clinics, dental benefits, prior authorization, drug formulary and administrative committees, preferred drugs, multisource drugs, health plans, claims against the state, and eligibility standards. - article 1 only
• HF331 (Nornes) Seat belt requirements amended for motor coaches used in school-related transportation.
• HF3347 (Urdahl) School concession stands established as a specific category of food and beverage service establishments.
• HF2728 (Abeler) Explosive growth revenue added to district's general education revenue.
• HF3503 (Newton) School districts authorized to levy pay costs attributable to increase in employer contribution rates for pension plans.
• HF3063 (Newton) School district authorized to renew an expiring referendum by action of the school board.
• HF3699 (Greiling) School district discretionary levy authorized.
• HF3008 (Anzelc) Type III vehicle drivers requirements amended.
• Governor's charter school property tax exemption proposal (see HF3306, article 6, section 2)
• HF3421 (Mariani) High school assessments established to determine college and career readiness.

• SF 2405 (Bakk-DFL- Cook) School district sparsity revenue guarantee extension
• SF 2375 (Stumpf-DFL-Thief River Falls) ISD #356 Lancaster, transition revenue adjustment
• SF 3064 (Stumpf-DFL-Thief River Falls) Northwestern Online College in the high school program appropriations
• SF 3063 (Stumpf-DFL-Thief river Falls) Career and technical education levy formula adjustment
• SF 2901 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) School districts and charter schools shared services grant program establishment and appropriation
• SF 2943 (Rummel-DFL-White Bear Lake) Community-centered schools pilot project establishment
• SF 2670 Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis) K-12 special education third-party billing process provision modification
• SF 3000 (Saltzman-DFL-Woodbury) Charter school state aid payment schedule and cash flow adjustment
• SF 2542 (Murphy-DFL-Red Wing) St.Charles disaster aid authorization
• SF 3079 (Sheran-DFL-Mankato) Postsecondary enrollment options program modifications
• SF 2550 (Kubly-DFL-Granite Falls) School district contract deadline penalty for failure to reach a collective bargaining agreement one-time exemption
• SF 3008 (Latz-DFL-St. Louis Park) School districts general education operating capital revenue use expansion for school closing costs
• SF 2384 (Saltzman-DFL-Woodbury) School districts referendum equalizing factor increase; second tier referendum equalization elimination
• SF 443 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) School finance alternative facilities bonding and levy program modification.  

In this issue

“Childhood has no rewind: Our children cannot go back to grade school and
get another education when times are better and we all have more to give.
When the playground is empty and the children are gone,
either we will have sacrificed for them, or we won’t."