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State Representative Tina Liebling
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0573
For more information contact: Melissa Parker 651-296-8873
NEWS COLUMN
Letter from the Capitol -- February 18, 2005
Debate over the state budget has begun in earnest. Setting a budget is in the end a matter of priorities - whether it’s for a family or for the state. That’s why your input will be so critical. I want to hear from you. Also in the news, the Bonding Bill is moving quickly through the process.
As always, please feel free to call or write with your ideas, questions and comments.
THE HOUSE BONDING BILL
The House Ways and Means Committee met last night in a packed hearing room to work on the bonding bill. The committee worked through quite a few amendments before finally passing the bill. There were some dissenters--who did not want to pay the interest on the bonds--but the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bonding bill has cleared all committees and will be coming to the house floor next week. I am really pleased to see it moving along so quickly.
Rochester has done fairly well in the House bonding bill. The Mayo-U of M biotech research facility is funded at $20 million—$4.3 million less than the request and $1.7 million less than the Governor's and the Senate's bills, but it's a start. The RCTC health sciences remodeling project—which I am carrying—is funded at $10.9 million instead of our $12.7 million request. The Governor left it out of his bill altogether, so I am relieved that the House and Senate both recognize its importance. Unfortunately, the Volleyball center did not receive funding by the Governor or by the House.
After debate and, I hope, passage on the House floor, the bill moves to Conference Committee, made up of members of both houses. Once an agreement is reached both Houses must re-pass the bill before it goes to the Governor.
GOVERNOR'S BUDGET PLAN
In late January, the Governor released his plan for addressing the state's $1.4 billion budget deficit. Certainly tough budget times require tough decision-making. However, there are a growing number of legislators from both sides of the aisle who are concerned about the Governor's approach and believe his budget does not fit with our core Minnesota values.
Minnesotans value good public education for our students.
As you know, school funding has been flat for the past three years. While the governor's budget allows for modest increase for our classrooms, most of the new dollars are directly tied to increases in local property taxes. According to the Governor's own Department of Education, the school portion of local property taxes across the state will likely increase over 20 percent in 2006.
The governor's approach breaks the promise the legislation made to Minnesotans in 2001, when the state took over the general education levy all across the state. Under the old levy system, the state picked up the difference for communities that could not raise enough to pay the per-student cost of educating their kids. This approach was known as the Minnesota Miracle. The state takeover of education picked up the bill for ALL communities--a huge benefit to property wealthy communities like Edina that used to pay their own way, but less so in Rochester and poorer communities that were already getting help from the state. Now the Governor’s budget proposes shifting that burden of school funding back to individual communities through property taxes increases in the form of school levies.
Minnesotans value providing opportunity for our citizens to improve their lives through higher education. However, if the Governor's plan were implemented as proposed, tuition would increase another 6% at the University of Minnesota and over 10% at the State Colleges and Universities system. And sadly, these tuition increases are nothing new in Minnesota. Due to past cuts at the state level, tuition at the U has increased by 80% already over the past 5 years.
Students in Rochester and across Minnesota are already taking on crushing debt to finance their educations. Some have given up on attending college altogether. Students are pressing for a tuition freeze this year. Can you blame them? I believe it would be in all our interests to keep higher education affordable.
Minnesotans value the health of their families and friends. But under the Governor's plan, as many as 41,000 Minnesotans will lose their health care coverage. Many of you have told me that this includes your adult children, your friends, your neighbors, and yourselves--people who work hard but don't make enough to afford the skyrocketing cost of private health insurance. Unfortunately, our families, friends, and neighbors will still get sick. Without health insurance they will be forced to put off seeing a doctor until they must use an emergency room. If they are unable to pay, the cost of their healthcare ends up being passed on to all of us in the form of increased healthcare premiums and even higher property taxes.
Many organizations, including the Minnesota Medical Association, have protested against further reductions to state government program's eligibility levels. I agree with them that this is the wrong way to balance the budget.
Minnesotans value fair taxes. My colleagues and I are very concerned that the Governor's plan relies on property tax increases to pay for many of the costs of running our state—a strategy that unfairly burdens young families struggling to make ends meet and seniors on fixed incomes.
In spite of these differences, there are some things in the Governor's budget plan on which we can agree. I agree with his proposed increase in state grant funding to veterans' organizations. And I support the proposed additional funding to address the epidemic of methamphetamine abuse, which has such a large negative impact on our community.
Alternate budget plans are still in the works. Legislators on both sides of the aisle will be analyzing the Governor's budget proposal as part of the ongoing debate. I hope you will also participate in the debate and help us craft a budget plan that provides every Minnesotan with the opportunities and quality of life that previous generations have enjoyed.
Talk with Tina
I will be co-hosting A TOWN HALL MEETING ON HEALTH CARE on Wednesday, February 23, 7 PM at the Public Library in Rochester. Joining me as co-hosts: Representatives Andy Welti and Tom Huntley, from Duluth. Please come and talk with us about your health care challenges and ideas.
I am hearing from many of you, and I am always grateful when you take the time to call, e-mail, or write. I am also hoping to meet with many of you during the legislative session at my "Talk with Tina" sessions at various locations in Rochester. Please join me and share your questions, ideas, and concerns. The next "Talk with Tina" is scheduled for March 5, place TBA. Please check my website, www.house.mn/30A for updated information.
You can also call me at the Capitol at 800-339-9038 or 651-296-0573 or e-mail me at Rep.Tina.Liebling@house.mn. My home phone is 507-289-4664.
News Items
- Rep. Tina Liebling Named Chair of House Health and Human Services Policy Committee - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Statement on DEED Bonding Project Announcement - (Posted: 2012-09-13 00:00:00)
- Local Legislators to Hold Town Hall Meeting - (Posted: 2012-07-19 00:00:00)
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