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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Jeanne Poppe

487 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193

For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877

Posted: 2007-05-22 00:00:00
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HOUSE PASSES BUDGET BILLS, SESSION ENDS ON TIME

ST. PAUL – State Representative Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin) said the state budget that passed both the House and Senate on Monday night addresses the state's core needs of education, health care and agriculture, as well as pay raises for nursing home workers and increased support for returning veterans.
"This budget appropriates over $35 billion in a reasonable and responsible manner," said Poppe. "This is a good beginning to restoring many of the cuts of the past few years."
The E-12 Education bill represents the biggest part of the state budget and offers nearly $800 million in new funding for education. This includes an additional $329 million for unfunded special education mandates and $33 million for voluntary All-Day Kindergarten. Both of these appropriations will free up more money from the General Fund for other areas, according to Poppe. The bill also provides the first increase in library funding in nearly twenty years.
In addition, the 2003 funding cuts to ECFE, Head Start, School Readiness and Adult Basic Education were restored, and for the first time in many years, higher education institutions in Minnesota won't see double-digit tuition increases.
"Minnesota students of all ages will be better off as the result of these education bills," said Poppe. "This was one of our top priorities when the session began, and I'm satisfied that we passed the best bills we could within the budget."
The Health and Human Services Bill increases access to affordable health care, including covering 37,000 Minnesota kids without health care coverage, and offers modest increased funding to nursing homes and their employees. According to Poppe, approximately 56 percent of the new funding in this bill is designated for nursing homes.
Several local projects authored by Rep. Poppe were included in the final package. The Economic Development Bill includes $160 thousand for a pilot workforce development project for Mower, Steele and Dodge Counties. In the Higher Education Bill, $800 thousand was allocated over two years for C-BED projects in four two-year colleges, including Riverland Community College. Also, even though the sales and use tax exemption for the Hormel Institute expansion was not approved, a $100 thousand grant was included in the Tax Bill as a show of support for the project.
Finally, two bills offered by Poppe were included in the Environmental Policy Bill. The first exempts the Deer Creek Speedway, by Racine, from the state noise standard. Mower County provided a resolution in support of this provision, which allows for improved local control as well as economic opportunity. The second bill included stipulates that sewage treatment installation does not need to be completed by professional engineers for systems under 10 thousand gallons.
"While I'm disappointed that we didn't get a fully funded, comprehensive transportation bill or a bonding bill this session, overall I'm pleased with the progress we made," said Poppe. "We finished our work on time, the first time since 1999 that a budget year didn't immediately go into special session. As the result of the work we got done, the lives of students, families, veterans and seniors in Minnesota will improve."
Rep. Poppe can be reached at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 487 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn.

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