Education Funding, Partisan Shifts, and Tight Timelines Define Week Ten
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Education Funding, Partisan Shifts, and Tight Timelines Define Week Ten

By March 23, 2025 No Comments

Last Week in Summary

Week ten of session started with a reorganized House as DFL Representative David Gottfried won the special election for House District 40B. Committees shifted to co-chair control and equal partisan representation (except for the Fraud Prevention committee which will keep a GOP majority for the next two years), and the Senate continues to move along with DFL-led committee hearings. First and second bill deadlines are on April 4, with the third deadline landing on April 11 – the day before the weeklong Easter/Passover break. House members will need to continue to look for a bipartisan pathway considering the limited time left. The Senate continues their work in committees, with most bills being laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus. The legislature faces a heavy workload before adjourning on May 19, 2025. 

House Education Finance

Tuesday’s Ed. Finance committee heard HF 630, a bill that had just come from Ed. Policy last week. Three testifiers spoke in support of the bill. There was no further member discussion, and the bipartisan bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.

HF 745 was heard on Thursday. Authored by Rep. Feist (D-New Brighton), the proposal would make it so that a school’s compensatory revenue eligibility was calculated on the basis of both direct certification and the application of education benefits and establish a Compensatory Revenue Task Force. Different districts testified for and against the bill, pointing out how much eliminating the paper forms would hurt their schools and asking at least to keep dual certification. Some senators expressed concern about the task force. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Education Finance bill.

House Education Policy

Tuesday’s Ed. Policy committee heard Rep. Youakim’s (D-Hopkins) bill on schools starting before Labor Day, HF 1124. The bill, allowing allowing school districts to start before Labor Day for two years, sparked debate just as it had in the Senate the week prior. Senators said they don’t want to minimize effects on businesses, but at the same time acknowledge that they are talking about kids’ education, which should be top priority. Rep. Youakim plans to work with folks on the bookends of this bill, and it was laid over.

Wednesday’s committee brought bills on school safety and overdose prevention, and a lengthy presentation by MDE on the Governor’s Education Policy bill, HF 1306.

Senate Education Finance

Tuesday’s Ed. Finance Committee heard SF 1404, a bill authored by Sen. Kunesh (D-New Brighton) and heard already in Ed. Policy that would remove the requirement that a school obtain consent from all 11 federally recognized Tribal Nations in Minnesota, and instead require that they get consent from the Tribal Nation located closest to the school. It also appropriates money in fiscal year 2026 for costs of replacing a prohibited mascot. The bill was laid over.

On Wednesday, Sen. Kupec (D-Moorhead) introduced SF 2239, a bill that would increase school district local optional revenue (LOR) authority and change the share of LOR revenue that is paid with state equalization aid. The bill increases the first tier LOR allowance from $300 to $550 per pupil for fiscal year 2027. Multiple testifiers spoke in support of this bill. Ann-Marie Foucault, Superintendent of St. Michael-Albertville, says their district has cut 77 staff positions, and without additional support they’d have to cut up to 25 more in 2027. Matt Valen, School Board Member of Moorhead Public Schools, urged senators that this bill has an opportunity to help students across the entire state. It would give school districts a local option to cope with inflated costs, and would serve as a lifeline for the many districts who have seen operating levies voted down. Sen. Kreun (R-Blaine) said he was happy to sign on as a co-author of SF 2239. The bill was laid over.

Committee ended with lively debate on SF 2188, a bill authored by Sen. McEwen (D-Duluth) that would appropriate additional money from the state general fund for school unemployment aid payments to school districts. Testifiers in support of the bill said UI helps with employee retention, and ensures that employees feel taken care of by their employer. Noel Schmidt, Rock Ridge Public Schools Superintendent, testified against the bill. Schmidt explained that they’ve had to cut teachers, and their local taxpayers can’t afford the unintended consequences of this bill. With these UI changes, schools are struggling more and more to fill positions in the summer. Senators against the bill said that with its passing, $100 million would be taken out of the K-12 target, which would only add further stress as funds are already extremely limited. Sen. Kreun suggests we consider repealing the mandate, instead of focusing on how to fund it.

Senate Education Policy

Senate Ed. Policy just met once last week. Among the bills heard was SF 1354, a bill establishing a School Health Advisory Committee, SF 1670, proposing amending the teacher shortage report requirements, and SF 2250, a bill modifying the hours of educational instruction. All of these bills were moved to their next committees. SF 2250 and 1670 were sent to Ed. Finance, while the School Health Advisory bill was sent to State and Local Govt. committee.

Education Committees & Schedules

Minnesota House, Senate Focus on Education Funding and Bipartisan Solutions
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