Legislative Conference Committees Begin Work

Last week was another long week of floor debates as the Minnesota House and Senate got their remaining budget bills passed. Leadership appointed conference committee members for each of the 10 budget bills.

A few conference committees met on Friday to begin the process of comparing and contrasting the House, Senate and Governor’s positions on issues. The E-12 conference committee was one of the last to be appointed and members will have their first meeting at 2 pm on Monday. Minnesota Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker is expected to provide testimony outlining and reiterating the Governor’s education agenda.

Legislative leaders reportedly met over the weekend to meet a self-imposed deadline for Monday of providing budget targets to the conference committees. At the time this update was written, MREA didn’t have additional information to provide on these discussions. Leaders are trying to avoid what has become common practice of waiting until the bitter end to produce a ‘global agreement’ on the budget. Some insiders do not expect conference committee targets on Monday or even this week.

The Conference Committees are formed at the end of the legislative sessions for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both the House and the Senate and bring forth an agreement for a vote.