The omnibus House and Senate supplemental budget bills differ greatly in some appropriations; the policy differences are vaster.
Wednesday’s conference committee on HF4099/SF3656* focused on the major policy differences in education, environment, jobs and energy, public safety and state government. No action was taken.
Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), who chairs the conference committee with Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Vernon Center), said conferees are expected to continue overviews Thursday, including transportation.
MORE View side-by-side comparisons for the various areas
Here are the some of the differences in select areas:
Agriculture
There are a handful of policy differences in the agriculture sections of the bill.
The House would establish a new Rural Finance Authority loan program, and loan criteria, to explore the feasibility of new renewable energy projects. It would also allow individuals in the cottage foods industry to register as limited liability corporations in order to buy liability insurance, and modify some biomass and bioeconomy programs.
The Senate has language to modify saltwater aquaculture statutes in a few areas including a provision requiring they be classified as agricultural operations for any construction, discharge or other permit issued by the Pollution Control Agency. Definitions for “saltwater aquaculture” and “saltwater aquatic farms” are also added, as are requirements for transportation or importation of saltwater aquatic life.
Education
The House and Senate may agree that school safety is a priority, but when it comes to other policy provisions and funding, there are differences.
A House provision would require the Department of Education to create a summative rating system that assigns each school a score of zero to 100, based on standardized test scores and achievement gap data. An earlier version of the Senate bill had a similar measure but it was removed during floor debate.
Other provisions in the House bill, but not the Senate include:
A measure not in the House bill, but in the Senate version would require school boards to adopt and post a policy, beginning in the 2018-19 school year, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs. It must include reporting and disciplinary actions for violations and be included in student handbooks and distributed to employees.
Health and human services
The House is generally much more aggressive on health and human services policy reform in its bill than the Senate.
Perhaps the most glaring difference is a provision Gov. Mark Dayton vehemently opposes. In a news conference Tuesday, he promised to veto any bill that contained language that essentially bans implementation of his MinnesotaCare buy-in proposal. The House provision would prohibit the Department of Human Services from going through with the buy-in as long as any unpaid MinnesotaCare premium payment remains unaccounted for.
Department officials previously testified in committee that unpaid premiums, which extend from 2014 through 2017, would be too much trouble to hunt for and the money collected wouldn’t be worth the time and money spent to track them all down. The idea is not included in the Senate version of the bill.
One place the Senate goes farther than the House is the prescription monitoring program, which helps doctors track opioid prescriptions.
Sponsored by Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), an earlier version of HF1440 would charge opioid manufacturers a fee for each pill, as well as beef up the prescription monitoring system. That proposal is not in the House omnibus bill, but the Senate has a similar idea on its side.
Instead of charging Big Pharma, it would charge a $50 annual fee to each prescriber or pharmacist who accesses the system. Furthermore, the Senate bill would require prescribers to check the system before prescribing opioids to a patient, and once every three months thereafter, with some exceptions. This proposal is not in the House version.
Jobs, energy and housing
The jobs, energy and housing articles in the House and Senate versions of the omnibus supplemental budget bills differ in many policy and funding areas.
Provisions that are in the House bill but not in the Senate include:
The Senate also includes policy provisions that aren’t in the House bill. They would:
Public safety
A plethora of House policy is countered by little from the Senate.
Provisions in the House bill, but not the Senate include:
The Senate includes language to extend the Court Technology Fund for five more years. Set to expire June 30, 2018, the fund is used to develop and maintain court and court-related computer systems and initiatives. It is paid for by a $2 fee on court filings and motions.
To increase dollars available for police officer training the House changes the percentage of the surcharge imposed for criminal and traffic offenses resulting in an additional $172,000 for the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. The Senate transfers $125,000 from the General Fund.
State Government
A $6.79 million difference in spending and a handful of major policy provisions separates the House and Senate positions in the state government finance portion of the omnibus supplemental budget bill.
The Senate is proposing a $1.55 million spending increase, but the House proposing a $5.24 million reduction. The House’s $3.8 million cut to the Revenue Department and $1.4 million cut to the Department of Human Rights far outweigh the Senate’s biggest spending reduction – a $150,000 transfer from Minnesota Management and Budget to the secretary of state’s office for a voting-related grant.
In fact, funding the secretary of state’s office, exempting hair braiders from registering with the Board of Cosmetologist Examiners and a provision limiting residential construction rulemaking is about the entirety of the duo’s common bond.
Major House proposals, like requiring agencies to dedicate 3.5 percent of their budget to cybersecurity and building veterans homes in Greater Minnesota aren’t in the Senate version. While the Senate proposal would require the Department of Administration to place a plaque in the Capitol honoring World War I veterans, the House would direct the Amateur Sports Commission to bid for a Nordic World Cup Ski Championship.
The Senate wants to abolish MN.IT as a standalone agency and move it under the purview of the Administration Department; the House proposes expanding the IT agency’s jurisdiction to include the state lottery, Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, and a few others.
Transportation
While the House transportation language proposes $101 million in supplemental General fund spending in Fiscal Year 2019, the Senate bill would spend far less — just $14.4 million.
The House would appropriate the bulk of that supplemental General Fund spending on roads and bridge construction across the state. House-only supplemental appropriations for the remainder of the 2018-19 biennium include:
Other House-only spending includes $7 million for small cities road and bridge construction assistance; $5 million for a new freight rail development fund; and $2 million for improvements at the Rochester International Airport.
Both bills include a number of policy provisions, including a program aimed at aiding those impacted by the messy rollout of the state’s new motor vehicle license and registration system, MNLARS.
The Senate version includes $15 million to fund a program to reimburse deputy registrars across the state harmed by the flawed system. The House bill contains only $9 million for a similar program.