Dear Lakeville friends and neighbors,
Summer is here and I hope you are starting to enjoy it.
You may have heard that we are much closer to finalizing negotiations and waiting for the Governor to call a special session. I wanted to take a moment to explain to you the issue surrounding negotiations that has delayed our desire to complete our state’s budget and avoid the risk of a government shutdown.
In the final days of the legislative session, we passed a budget that put Minnesotans needs first – increasing education funding by over $1 billion and instilling helpful reforms, prioritizing our seniors with better care reimbursement standards, and protecting and aiding Minnesota farmers from the of avian influenza epidemic.
Included in the State Government Finance budget was a proposal to allow counties the ability to hire a private auditor for county-wide audits. The ability to do this is already afforded to cities and smaller municipalities. Contrary to the reports of some legislators, this provision was not a last minute inclusion – it had been introduced and discussed as early as April of this legislative session. In the final days of the legislative session, the State Government Finance bill – including this proposal – was passed overwhelmingly by the House and the Senate with broad bipartisan support, and was sent to the governor, who signed it into law. The Governor, however, vetoed the bipartisan passed Education bill, along with the Agriculture and Environment bill, and the Jobs Growth and Energy Affordability bill.
Moving the Goal Post
Originally, the big delay to a special session was re-negotiating an Education funding bill. The issue there was that Governor Dayton wanted to start free preschool for all four year olds. We held that targeted scholarships to those families and children that need help are more effective, and allow us to better fund K-12 programs. After much discussion, Governor Dayton relented on his insistence that we fund universal pre-K, and we released a new E-12 Education budget that increases our investment in Minnesota children, while still enacting the third lowest increase in government spending over the past 50 years.
While it was evident that we would return to St. Paul for a special session after we resolved the Education plan, Governor Dayton began to raise objections to the county audit proposal. This objection stalled negotiations as he requested we repeal a law we passed and he signed.
Up until yesterday, our final outstanding bill – Job Growth and Energy Affordability – was tied up in negotiations over the county audit proposal. (Yes, the provision in the State Government Bill he signed and passed into law.)
Yesterday, Governor Dayton announced that he will drop the county audit issue, allowing us to enact a budget that helps Minnesota families and prevents a government shutdown; but raised more issues in the Jobs and Energy bill and new request for bonding projects. The goal post keep moving!
Standing Ready
As we work through the final issues and prepare for special session, I am hopeful that Governor Dayton will call us back to St. Paul this week to complete the work we finished once already during session.
Please know that we stand ready to answer the call of a special session. When that session is held is the sole discretion of the governor. In fact, it order to avoid a partial closure of state operations, I may be forgoing a planned family trip outstate to visit my dad on Father’s Day with the rest of my family. I hope the Governor comes to his senses soon and recognizes that playing the political game of changing demands, dragging out negotiations is not in the best interest of our communities and state.
Minnesotans deserve certainty. Delaying negotiations further puts flood relief, avian influenza relief, and state government employees at risk. Minnesota deserves better, and I am optimistic and we will get this done.
Rep. Jon Koznick
PS. I’ve enjoyed seeing many more of you around Lakeville in the last month and am also looking forward to the upcoming 49th Annual Pan-O-Prog activities!