Week 11 – School Funding, Budget Talks Hit Wire

As of this morning, the legislature has 12 days to pass bills. In typical fashion, most of the major work will come down to the wire on the last weekend of the session, May 15-17. Supplemental budget items, budget relief for HCMC, a Bonding Bill, fraud prevention and HHS program integrity; all of it is still in the mix, but legislative leaders have yet to announce a deal that would carve a pathway forward to complete work on these matters.

We expect the House to take up HF 3900 today. This is the bill creating a ballot question regarding the Permanent School Trust Fund. Assuming the House passes it today, the Senate appears poised to take it up Thursday. If both bodies pass identical language, the bill goes to the Secretary of State who certifies it for the November general election ballot. This is a big week for all of the effort that has gone into passing this important bill.

We need to triple down on our efforts this week to get legislators fired up about a compensatory hold harmless. Last week, the Senate reduced their $35 million hold harmless to $25 million. The House has nothing for education at this point, and the Governor’s plan would shave another $50 million from special education in the tails budget. This is a non-budget year, and we know the Health & Human Services arena is in dire need as federal cuts to Medicaid roll through. However, funding a public school system is job one for the legislature, and they need to help preserve jobs and programs for our students. You’ll see another call to action from MREA tomorrow urging the legislature to invest $50 million from the current biennium projected surplus into Compensatory Aid. If you haven’t reached out to your legislators, please make time to do so!

Many thanks to Sen. Grant Hauschild for delivering again and getting this important levy reform into the Senate’s omnibus tax bill. If passed, the proposal would help reduce the levy burden on residential homes and commercial properties in districts with more than 15% of the property is classified as seasonal/recreational, if a voter approved operating levy is in place.

We’re waiting to see if the House advances an omnibus tax bill of their own, but that doesn’t appear likely at this moment. Time is running out for major tax committee discussions between the House and Senate. Perhaps concern about how to fund the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), including using the existing sales tax for the debt service on Target Field, will create an opportunity for additional tax policy considerations.