Legislative Update

The Legislature convened the 2008 session just over a week ago, and there has already been plenty of action. Last week both the House and Senate passed a constitutional amendment to raise the sales tax by 3/8% and dedicate the funding to conservation and the arts. The amendment will be on the ballot this fall. Today the House and Senate are taking up a transportation funding package. Governor Pawlenty has said he will veto the bill. Both bodies will attempt to override the expected veto next week. In the meantime, committee hearings are being held on a wide variety of bills.

State Economic Forecast: The forecast will be released on Thursday, February 28. The speculation is that the projected deficit will be between $600 and $800 million, but some legislators are saying it will be closer to $1 billion. The size of the deficit will dictate the extent to which budget cuts will need to be made.

Here is an update on library issues, with MLA/MEMO platform items listed first:

Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants: Our bill has advanced in both the House and the Senate. Below are the details.

House: HF 2558, authored by Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL - Hermantown), was heard in the House K-12 Education Finance Division on Tuesday, February 12. I presented testimony along with Sharon Strack, Milaca Public Library, John Bowden, Marshall-Lyon County Library Foundation, and Nate Mathews, City Administrator of Staples. The testimony was very well received. Yesterday the Division adopted its capital recommendations, ranking each of the projects that had come before it as high, medium or low priority. Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants were designated a high priority, and the full $10 million we had requested was included in the committee recommendation. There were 16 projects that came before the K-12 Finance Division, and 4 of those projects were designated a high priority. The Division recommendations will next go to the House Capital Investment Committee, where they will be heard on Monday, February 25. On Tuesday, February 26, the Capital Investment Committee will unveil its omnibus bonding bill.

Senate: SF 2682, authored by Senator Dan Skogen (DFL - Hewitt), was heard in the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division on Wednesday, February 20. I presented testimony along with Sharon Strack, Milaca Public Library, and Ben Schierer, Fergus Falls City Councilman. After hearing 15 projects, the Division voted to include 13 projects in its recommendation to the Senate Capital Investment Committee, although the recommended amounts for some projects was reduced. Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants were recommended for the full $10 million that we requested. The projects were not ranked.

LGA and County Program Aid: I have spoken with lobbyists for the League of Minnesota Cities and informed them that we want to be actively involved in advocating for an increase in LGA. They do expect to have a bill to do that, but it is not finalized yet. Given the budget deficit, they are not optimistic about the likelihood of an increase going forward. They are bracing for the possibility that the Governor will propose cuts in LGA and County Program Aid in order to balance the budget. We may need to shift gears and help our cities and counties to fend off cuts. I will keep you posted.

LMS Bill: The bill to require every school to have a licensed library media specialist will be introduced on Monday by Senator Kathy Saltzman (DFL - Woodbury) and Rep. Marcia Swails (DFL - Woodbury). The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, February 27 at 3pm. The hearing will take place in Room 15 of the Capitol. February 27 is Library Legislative Day, so we'd like to have a big crowd attend the hearing. We have three library media specialists set to testify along with several students. The bill is controversial because it is an unfunded mandate on schools. The committee may simply hear the testimony for informational purposes and not take action on the bill. This will be an opportunity to educate legislators about the important work that library media specialists do and the impact they have on student achievement.

General Education Formula: School organizations have coalesced around a bill that would increase the general ed formula by 2% next year (this would be in addition to the 1% increase that was passed last year) and fully fund the state's special ed formula. This is a very expensive bill, and given the budget deficit, its chances of passage are slim. The bill is HF 2978/SF 2815. It has been introduced by Rep. Will Morgan (DFL - Burnsville) and Senator Tom Saxhaug (DFL - Grand Rapids).

School Technology: The MLA/MEMO platform supports the recommendations of the Task Force on K-12 Technology Standards. The report was released several weeks ago, and the recommendations are being drafted into a bill that will be introduced by Senator Terri Bonoff (DFL - Minnetonka). The bill will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, March 5.

In addition, SF 2392/HF 2973 has been introduced by Senator Chuck Wiger (DFL - N. St. Paul) and Rep. Denise Dittrich (DFL - Champlin) to dedicate school trust land revenue to school technology and library media resources. This would generate about $19 million per year. Currently, school trust land revenue goes into the state's general fund. These same legislators have also introduced another version of the bill that would ensure that school trust land revenue goes to K-12 schools but does not dedicate the revenue to technology. Both versions of the bill were heard in the Senate Education Committee on Monday, February 18. Both bills passed and were referred to the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division, where both bills will will be heard on Tuesday, February 26.

Last week in his state of the state address the Governor proposed establishing a digital toolbox for teachers and students. This morning Commissioner Alice Seagren made a presentation in the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division on the Governor's education proposals. Details on this particular item were a bit sketchy. Commissioner Seagren mentioned providing online tutorials for students, online courses for students in grades 6-12 and curriculum ideas for teachers. More details will be provided when the Governor's supplemental budget is released in March.

ELM Access: SF 2821, a bill to allow public libraries that are not members of their regional library to have access to ELM, was introduced on Monday, February 18 by Senator Ann Lynch (DFL - Rochester). MLA opposes this bill. The bill was heard in the Senate Education Committee yesterday. After a very spirited debate, the committee passed the bill on a divided voice vote. It was referred to the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division. Ken Behringer, MLA President-Elect, and I testified against the bill. Audrey Betcher, Director of the Rochester Public Library, Renee Lowery, Director of the Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault, and Charlotte Helgeson, Director of the East Grand Forks Public Library, testified in favor of the bill.

P-20 Education Partnership: Senator Chuck Wiger (DFL - N. St. Paul) and Rep. Marcia Swails (DFL - Woodbury) have introduced SF 2370 / HF 2783, a bill establishing a partnership of education organizations and state agencies. Its charge is to make recommendations to create a seamless system of education from early childhood through postsecondary education. The bill was heard in the Senate Education Committee on Monday, February 18. It was amended to include both MEMO and MLA in the partnership. The bill passed and was referred to the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee.