This week the House and Senate floor sessions were the busiest to date of the session. More bills were passed this week by each chamber than had been passed in any other week.
A number of omnibus finance bills were debated and passed through the House and Senate floors this week. On Monday the Senate passed its Omnibus State Government Finance bill, which was amended to include a provision that would prohibit state funding for a soccer stadium. This was proposed in response to Minnesota United recently being named as the newest professional team to join Major League Soccer. The amendment was approved on a vote of 61-4. The House passed its Omnibus Transportation and Jobs bills this week, while the Senate passed, along with State Government Finance, the Omnibus Environment and Judiciary bills.
Attached is an updated summary of the House, Senate and Governor education finance proposals. This document will change as the bills move through the process. Below are links to updated spreadsheets and school district runs for the House and Senate bills.
House Education Finance Bill
On Saturday, the MN House of Representatives debated and passed HF844, the Omnibus E-12 Education Finance and Policy Bill. After 5 hours of debate the bill passed 69-61 with one Republican, Rep. Mark Uglem, voting no along with every Democrat. Several amendments were adopted including:
a)One amendment required group locker rooms, bathrooms and showers to be designated for one sex only can't be used by the other. It does not preclude schools from offering single-use bathrooms or changing rooms to transgender students.
b)Another amendment attempted to get at the challenges individuals are faced with in passing the MTLE and in obtaining licensure. This amendment directs the Board of Teaching to grant a temporary license to a teacher candidate who agrees to try to pass thecollege-level skills examination or attain the requisite ACT or SAT scores during the termof the third, temporary one-year teaching license. It also states that at the request of the school district, the Board of Teaching must issue a standard teaching licenseto a teacher who, after being granted a third, temporary one-year teaching license, isdetermined by the school district, based on required teacherevaluations, to have been an effective teacher in each of the three consecutive school yearsduring which the teacher taught full-time under a temporary, one-year teaching license"
House Appropriations Tracking Sheet
House Levy Tracking Sheet
A current district run is not yet available
Senate Education Finance Bill
SF811, the Omnibus E-12 Education Finance Bill, continues to move through the legislative process. It passed out of the Senate Finance Committee last Thursday. The Senate Tax Committee reviews the bill on Monday and the full Senate is expected to debate the bill on Wednesday. A few amendments were adopted in the Senate Finance committee. One transferred approximately $2 million of the new long-term facilities maintenance aid to Head Start. In addition, amendments that increased funding for Head Start, the Perpich School, Southwest Metro State teacher education and service learning grants were adopted using approximately $5 million of previously unallocated funds.
School_readiness_aid_run_150421
Senate District Runs
Long_term_facilities_fy19_estimates
FY16 americanindian education aid
Senate levy tracking
Senate appropriations tracking
What next?
Once the Senate passes their Omnibus Education Finance bill, the House and Senate will name a conference committee of five members from each body. The conference committee must resolve the differences and send one bill for the full House and Senate to approve. Governor Dayton must then sign it into law.
However, before this conference committee completes it work, the House and Senate leadership and Governor Dayton must agree to a global budget agreement. As you know, they do not agree on a lot of things from what and how much tax relief/tax cuts to provide along with how much to appropriate for each budget division. The three are very far apart on lot of areas and education funding is at the center. The constitutionally mandated adjournment date is Monday, May 18 and if they do not complete their work a special session will be required.
We will connect with you on next steps to continue to put pressure on the Legislature to raise the E12 budget target to accommodate an adequate formula increase and other education funding priorities. Stay tuned!