Legislative Update

We are in the final week of the legislative session. Legislators must adjourn no later than Monday, May 19 and they are prohibited from passing any bills on the day of adjournment. This means that the last day for passing bills will be either Saturday or Sunday. Sunday floor sessions are not prohibited, but they are generally avoided.

The Governor and legislative leaders have not reached a budget agreement. Negotiations are continuing. The key issue is levy limits for cities and counties. The omnibus tax bill that was agreed upon over the weekend by the House and Senate includes levy limits, but the Governor has said that they are not strict enough.

The House and Senate have agreed on a tax bill, a budget bill and a separate education funding bill, but have not yet taken these bills up on the floor. If there is an agreement with the Governor, the bills will be amended to reflect that agreement and will then be brought to the floor for passage. If there is not an agreement the bills will be brought to the floor for passage in their present form, and the Governor would veto them. If this happens, the Governor will have the choice of calling a special session or using his authority to unallot spending in order to balance the budget.

Here is a summary of the provisions of interest in the tax and budget bills that have been agreed upon by the Legislature (keep in mind that these may change if there is an agreement with the Governor):

E-12 Education Funding Bill (HF 6): The education funding items that had been part of the omnibus budget bill were moved in to a separate education funding bill over the weekend, but the substance has not changed. This bill raises the general education formula by $51 per pupil on a one-time basis, raises the general education formula by $35 per pupil in future years (through eliminating the permanent fund subtraction), and allows school districts to transfer up to $51 per pupil from total operating capital to their general fund. It also cuts the Department of Education operating budget by 4%. These provisions were all previously included in the agreement reached by the E-12 Working Group nearly a month ago (see my update from April 18).

Omnibus Tax Bill (HF 3149): The bill agreed upon by the tax conference committee over the weekend increase aid to cities by $55 million and to counties by $27 million. It also imposes levy limits on cities and counties beginning in 2009, but only if the increases in aid go into effect. The bill also includes a provision raising the limit on the amount that Anoka County can bond for library buildings.

Omnibus Budget Bill (HF 1812): The bill cuts the general appropriation for MnSCU by $6.6 million per year and cuts the University of Minnesota by $5.2 million in FY 08 and 09 and by $7.7 million per year in the next biennium.

Omnibus Education Policy Bill (SF 3001): The education policy conference committee reached agreement last week, and the bill was passed on the House and Senate floors. The bill was presented to Governor Pawlenty on Friday. He has until midnight tonight to sign or veto the bill. He is expected to veto it. Provisions of interest in the final bill include the establishment of a technology task force that will develop statewide technology standards for schools and a provision changing the name of the Minnesota Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to the Braille and Talking Book Library and allowing its advisory council to meet electronically. The provision in the Senate version of the bill allowing ELM access to public libraries that are not members of their regional library was not included in the conference committee agreement.