Legislative Update

Bonding Bill: The bonding bill passed on the House floor this afternoon. The conference committee was appointed this evening, and the word is that they plan to meet through the weekend and complete work on the bill so that it can be brought to the floor for final passage early in the week, possibly as soon as Monday. The final bill is expected to be substantially smaller than the bills that have passed the House and Senate because the new economic forecast shows that state revenues have declined. Tradition dictates that the state spend no more than 3% of revenues on debt service, and this would mean the bonding bill could be no bigger than about $825 million. By contrast, the bills that have passed the House and Senate are closer to $1.1 billion. This means that the negotiations will be brutal, and many projects will fall by the wayside.

The House bill includes $2 million for Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants and the Senate bill includes $1 million. Please contact the conferees listed below and urge them to include $2 million for Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants in the bonding bill.

Senator Keith Langseth (DFL -Glyndon) 651-296-3205 http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_emailform.php?mem_id=1029&ls=85

Senator Sandy Pappas (DFL - St. Paul) 651-296-1802 http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_emailform.php?mem_id=1046&ls=85
Senator Dave Tomassoni (DFL - Chisholm) 651-296-8017 sen.david.tomassoni@senate.mn
Senator Linda Scheid (DFL -Brooklyn Park) 651-296-8869 http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_emailform.php?mem_id=1057&ls=85
Senator Paul Koering (R - Fort Ripley) 651-296-4875 sen.paul.koering@senate.mn
Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL - St. Paul) 651-296- 3824 rep.alice.hausman@house.mn
Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL - Minneapolis) 651-296-4200 rep.jean.wagenius@house.mn
Rep. Loren Solberg (DFL - Grand Rapids) 651-296-2365 rep.loren.solberg@house.mn
Rep. Bev Scalze (DFL - Little Canada) 651-296-7153 rep.bev.scalze@house.mn
Rep. Kathy Tingelstad (R - Andover) 651-296-5369 rep.kathy.tingelstad@house.mn

Library Informational Hearing: On Monday the House Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Division held an informational hearing on libraries, and it went very well. The committee heard excellent testimony from Mark Ranum on regional libraries, Melanie Huggins on early literacy, Ann Walker Smalley on multi-type libraries, Bill DeJohn on Minitex, MnLINK and ELM, Leslie Yoder on school library media programs, and Peg Werner on telecommunications.

ELM for Unaffiliated Libraries: The House companion to SF 2821, the bill that allows ELM access for public libraries that are not members of their regional library, was introduced on Monday by Rep. Jeremy Kalin (DFL - Lindstrom). The bill is HF 3730. MLA opposes this bill.

Broadband Task Force: SF 1918, the bill establishing a task force to develop a plan to ensure that every Minnesotan has access to broadband service, has been amended to include a representative of public libraries on the task force. Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL - Duluth) is chief author of the bill. Rep. Sandra Masin (DFL - Eagan), the author of the House companion, HF 2107, has agreed to include a library representative in her bill as well.