By Sam Walseth, MREA Lobbyist
At midnight one week from Monday, the 2013 regular session must close.
Legislative leaders worked over the weekend negotiating budget targets with each other and we expect that sometime today to see those targets.
Conference committee targets are it. Once announced, there’s no going back. Whatever leadership announces is what the various conference committees have to work with and wrap up their bills.
At Stake
At stake in education is money on the formula, early childhood scholarships, referendum equalization and equity revenue to help those districts with less than $300/pupil in referendum authority.
A new general education levy is still in the mix as is repayment of the school aid and property tax recognition shifts.
MREA has written extensively about the various options on the table for education and you can view our comparison of the proposals in House, Senate and Governor on our website.
What’s Next
If for some reason leadership gets hung up on closing the budget target deal, you may hear from us this week, asking you to contact your legislators ASAP to push them toward the House E-12 budget target as that target represents the best possible amount of funding for the K-12 classroom.
Most likely, the next time you hear from us, it will be to report the final negotiated education spending levels for this session. It’s a big week for E-12 education policy.