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State Representative Tim Faust
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0518
For more information contact: Michael Howard 651-296-8873
Column/LTE
Minnesota Takes Great Strides On Education, Health Care and Property Taxes
When I campaigned for the House of Representatives in 2006 I kept hearing the same message from people in our community – do something about our skyrocketing property taxes, do something about our under-funded schools, and do something to fix our broken health care system. They wanted action, follow-through, and results on the bread-and-butter issues that affect their lives everyday. I am grateful for the message I heard from all of you, and with my second legislative session now complete, I am grateful that we were able to move Minnesota forward on each of these important issues. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you at the Capitol, it continues to be an honor.
Our chief task of the 2008 session was to balance our $935 million budget deficit. After months of bi-partisan compromise, we passed a responsible budget-balancing bill that matches the values of most Minnesotans. We held down college tuition, protected and invested in our schools and nursing homes, and did not raise taxes. Tough choices were made to accomplish our goal, including over $300 million in spending cuts and the use of $500 in our state's budget reserve. We closed the rest of the budget deficit by closing tax loopholes for corporations sheltering profits overseas.
Last year we provided a much-needed funding increase for all of our schools that have struggled for years due to the 2003 budget cuts. This year we followed through with a balanced $51 per-pupil funding increase for every school district in the state. The proposal also includes flexibility for school districts to transfer up to $51 per pupil from the district's capital budget to the district's general fund in order to meet urgent needs if the district has funds in their capital budget account. This was added to a provision I authored for funds transfer for East Central High School.
The funding increase for our schools was an important part of the building blocks to the more substantial education funding reform we need in Minnesota. Another big piece is the results from Education Funding Reform Task Force study that arose out of legislation I authored in 2007. The Task Force recommendations from this group's study have called for a simplified state funding formula that decreases our reliance on property tax increases for school funding. I look forward to following through next year with the significant education funding reform we need to deliver a world-class education to every student in Minnesota.
Just this week we took up the fifth significant property tax bill on the House floor in the last two years. It has been a tough issue that has been hotly debated between Democrats, Republicans, and the Governor and it was too important an issue to get dragged down by partisan politics this year. With bi-partisan support, we overwhelmingly passed a property bill (the vote was 129-4).
In the bill we replenish local cities and counties with over $60 million in aid that was cut in 2003. This will increase the ability of cities and counties to adequately fund things like police and fire without relying on large property tax increases. The aid is indexed for inflation so that our cities don’t fall behind in coming years. We also provided $25 million in direct relief through the property tax refund program.
Over the last two years we expanded health care access to over 110,000 Minnesotans, over 40,000 of them children. We passed a health care reform bill this year that puts us on the right track toward more efficient, cost-effective health care delivery to help lower health care costs. After years of double-digit health care cost increases, Minnesota is moving in the right direction toward affordable health care for all Minnesotans. I will continue working toward the goal of a Minnesota where every person has access to affordable health coverage.
It's difficult to include everything we accomplished in a short column given the wide range of results over the past two years, but there are several important items I should mention. We responded to the struggling national economy with a bonding bill that emphasizes projects that are ready-to-go to put people to work right away. We passed a landmark transportation bill to fix our states roads and bridges and passed an I-35W Survivors Compensation Fund to address the significant challenges facing the survivors from the bridge collapse. We also made critical investment in higher education to end double-digit tuition increases at our state colleges and universities.
One of the most important ways we can show Minnesota we are working together in the best interest of our state is to finish our job on time. I am pleased that in both my first legislative sessions we bucked the trend over the last several years of needing a special session to finish our work. It takes cooperation and bi-partisan agreement to deliver results timely at the Capitol. That's exactly the kind of service I plan on continuing in coming years.
News Items
- Kyle Herman Bill Signed into Law - (Posted: 2010-04-28 00:00:00)
- To Students, Teachers, and Parents: Have a great year - (Posted: 2009-09-14 00:00:00)
- LEGISLATIVE SESSION CONCLUDES - (Posted: 2009-05-19 00:00:00)
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