Legislative Update

The Legislature returns tomorrow from its Easter break. The Legislature's constitutional adjournment deadline of May 19 is eight weeks from today, so we are entering the home stretch of the 2008 session. I thought this would be a good time review the status of MLA/MEMO platform items and other legislative issues of interest. Here is a summary:

State Budget: This week legislative action will be focused on the budget. Although this is not a budget year, legislators must make adjustments in order to solve a projected $935 million state budget deficit. The deadline for omnibus budget bills to emerge from committee is Friday, March 28. Only one of the budget bills that impact libraries has been made public to date. Last Wednesday the House K-12 Education Finance Division made public its proposed budget bill, and it contained good news. There are no cuts to any library appropriations. The bill even provides a one-time increase in basic aid of $51 per pupil to schools. (See the paragraph below on the general education increase for more detail). The K-12 Division will meet on Tuesday, March 25 to consider amendments and take final action on the bill.

Bonding: The bonding bill remains at a standstill. Early in the session the House and Senate moved quickly to pass their respective versions of the bonding bill and get it to a conference committee, with the goal of sending a final bill to the Governor by March 15. However, that deadline has come and gone, and although the conference committee was appointed on March 6, and it has not yet held a public meeting. The sticking point is the lack of agreement on the overall size of the bill. The Governor insists on a bill no larger than $825 million -- about $140 million less than the bills passed by the House and Senate and the bill originally proposed by the Governor. The House is willing to abide by the Governor's limit, but the Senate has been holding out for a larger bill.

Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants: The House bonding bill includes $2 million, and the Senate bonding bill includes $1 million.

Academic Library Capital Projects: All four of the academic library projects that appear on the MLA/MEMO platform are still alive in the bonding conference committee negotiations. Here are the amounts included in each bill:

• Northland Community and Technical College: House: $7.8 million Senate: $7.8 million
• Minnesota State Community and Technical College - Moorhead: House: $2.5 million Senate: $2.5 million
• Hennepin Technical College: House: $2.4 million Senate: $2.4 million
• Minnesota State University Moorhead: House: $400,000 Senate: $400,000

Local Government Aid and County Program Aid: Cities and counties were a bit surprised and very relieved that the Governor did not propose any cuts to their state aid in his budget. Given the budget deficit, the likelihood of an increase in aid to cities and counties appears slim.
LMS In Every School: Our bill to require a licensed library media specialist in every school was heard in the Senate Education Committee on Library Legislative Day. Despite excellent testimony from library media specialists, students and a parent, the bill failed to advance. Legislators were concerned about imposing a unfunded mandate on schools at a time when funding is scarce.

General Education Increase: As noted above, the House K-12 Education Finance bill includes a one-time increase of $51 per pupil for schools, an increase of about 1%. The price tag for this increase is $44 million in FY 09. According to Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL - Roseville), the funding comes from three sources: 1) a cut in the Q-Comp program; 2) a 4% cut to the Department of Education's operating budget; and 3) the state budget reserve.

School Technology: Both the House and Senate versions of the omnibus education policy bill include a proposal to formalize the existing Minnesota Education Technology Task Force (METT). Both Patrick Plant and Gary Ganje serve on the METT, so MEMO is well represented. The legislation directs the METT to develop statewide technology standards for school districts.
In addition, a proposal to dedicate all or part of the school trust land revenue to technology is getting serious consideration in both the House and Senate. The permitted uses include the purchase of library media materials and library technology. The House K-12 Education Finance bill dedicates all future growth in school trust land revenue to this purpose. A similar proposal is expected to be included in the Senate's E-12 Education Budget bill that will be unveiled on Thursday.

ELM: A bill to provide access to ELM for the five public libraries in the state that are not affiliated with their regional library is included in the Senate version of the omnibus education policy bill. The bill did not receive a hearing in the House. MLA opposes this bill.

Broadband Task Force: A bill to establish a task force to develop a plan to ensure access to ultra high-speed broadband for every Minnesotan has passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote on the House floor. The bill provides for representatives of K-12 schools, higher education and regional libraries to be included in the task force.

Levy Limits: The Governor has proposed strict levy limits for cities and counties. His proposal has gotten a very cool reception in the House and Senate Tax Committees.
Carver County Library Board: A bill to make the Carver County Library Board advisory to the County Board has passed out of committee in both the House and the Senate and is awaiting a floor vote in both bodies.