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State Representative Michael Beard
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8872
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
MID-SESSION REVIEW
We are heading into Easter/Passover break at the state legislature which marks the midway point of the session. Now is a good time to take a look back at what we have been up to in St. Paul.
Here are a few major things we’ve done so far:
• Passed a bonding bill
• Reformed General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC)
• Tackled $312 million of the budget deficit (only $700 million to go!)
House leadership made passing a bonding bill the top priority for the session. The bill that passed the House was nearly $1 billion. A few Scott County projects were in the bill originally, but these projects were removed by the DFL-led conference committee. I voted against this bill because I think it is irresponsible to borrow that kind of money before addressing the billion dollar deficit. Instead of a modest bill focused on state-wide needs, this bill was full of wants.
Fortunately, Governor Pawlenty line-item vetoed the bill down to a more responsible size ($680 million) mostly by taking out many of the local projects that do not fit into the criteria for what bonding projects should be—ones with regional or state-wide significance. I wish he would have gone farther, but the final product was a step in right direction.
Last week the House passed a nation-leading reform with broad, bipartisan support to provide coverage to Minnesotans who relied on GAMC. My Republican colleagues and I upheld Pawlenty’s veto of a bill passed in February that extended GAMC benefits another 16 months, so we could return to the negotiating table and craft legislation that constituted long-term reform. This new plan does just that.
GAMC was growing at unsustainable rates and projected to cost $928 million next biennium. This plan saves taxpayers $700 million while still providing coverage to poorest Minnesotans.
In budget news, House leadership released a draft proposal on how to balance the $1 billion deficit. Last week the House passed the first of three budget bills. It covers about $300 million worth of cuts, but that still leaves another $700 million to go from HHS and Education (the areas where we do the vast majority of our general fund spending).
I had to vote against the bill because it fails to enact any long-term reforms, and I don’t think we should take a piecemeal approach to balancing the budget. Leadership had no trouble putting together a plan recently to borrow $1 billion for bonding, but they are unable or unwilling to make the tough decisions needed to balance the billion dollar deficit now. My House Republican colleagues and I proposed a number of amendments to keep the state from future budget troubles but most were blocked and not even voted on.
This proposal also fails to account for the additional $2.7 billion that will be added to the deficit if the unallotment lawsuit is successful. House leadership used $25,000 of taxpayer money to sue because they claimed the unallotment power used by the Governor last year to bring the budget into balance was unconstitutional. If they feel the suit has enough merit to use tax dollars, the additional deficit must be accounted for in their budget proposal. What is the contingency plan if they are successful? It either means a huge tax increase on Minnesotans or $2.7 billion more in cuts.
The budget deficit remains the biggest issue Minnesota faces. Whether it is $700 million or $3.4 billion (if the lawsuit succeeds) remains to be seen, but regardless, this will be the focus for the rest of the session.
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