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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
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GUEST COLUMN
Bill to generate more revenue for schools among the "other" laws passed in 2012
By Rep. Paul Anderson
With much of the media attention focused on stadiums and bonding, many of the other bills passed during the recently completed legislative session didn’t receive much fanfare. In this column for the next two weeks, I’ll give details of other bills that we passed and were signed into law.
A landmark piece of legislation became law this year, one that changes the way Minnesota’s school trust lands are administered. Currently, the 2.5 million acres set aside to provide revenue for our state’s school children are under the jurisdiction of the DNR, and some feel those lands are not being administered to provide the most revenue possible. This bill changes the structure of management and provides for a director and a 12-member, bi-partisan legislative commission. The law requires the trustees to manage the lands for maximum profit, with the money earned by the trust fund going to K-12 public school students in Minnesota.
Other education changes made this past session allow a career and technical education (CTE) credit to count toward the high school science graduation requirement. Post-secondary (PSEO) is expanded to allow participation by 10th graders and allows colleges to advertise to those students. School districts are now allowed to suspend a teacher without pay if the teacher is charged with a felony (as has been the law in cities of the first class). There is also a new requirement that a principal’s annual evaluation must include 35 percent student achievement.
A bill that I carried pertaining to how the Minnesota State High School League deals with schools without an interscholastic conference was also signed into law. The time period during which a school must make a “good-faith effort” to find a conference has been shortened from 180 days to 90. The previous law affected how the Melrose district was placed back in the West Central Conference, but not in time for the 2012 football season.
The agriculture policy bill passed lays out the framework for a dairy research, teaching, and consumer education commission. This group will come up with plans for a new facility that will be used for research and education for Minnesota’s dairy industry. Such aspects as the size of the facility and its location will be determined by the commission. This will be a public-private partnership between the dairy production and processing industry, the University of Minnesota, and MnSCU.
The omnibus liquor bill makes several changes pertaining to the sale of bulk wine. It would allow wineries in Minnesota to utilize a “Made in Minnesota” label even if they purchase bulk wine to mix with their own. The bulk wine cannot exceed 10 percent of the winery’s own production. The same bill also allows for the sale of beer at TCF stadium for University of Minnesota football games. Under the plan, the sale of alcohol will be allowed in luxury boxes and a designated “beer garden.”
Also in the area of commerce, a change in law has been made pertaining to manufactured homes. This new law would allow a title when there was no title issued previously. Currently, you may have a title on the entire property (manufactured home plus land), but not the manufactured home separately.
Major changes were also made to Minnesota’s charitable gambling laws. State taxes will be reduced as Minnesota makes the transition from primarily paper to electronic pull tabs. Plans are still being finalized, and various machines are being tested. If any local charity has questions on what changes are ahead, they should contact the Gambling Control Board (651-639-4000).
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