Hello Friends,
Tomorrow we will return to the State Capitol having reached the half-way point of the legislative session. It was good to take a short break and catch up with our neighbors, our constituents, and our families. We’ll spend the next few weeks assembling budgets for the various state agencies. It’s a good time to let us know what’s important to you.
“Zapper” Bill moving along
I’m please to say that is gaining some momentum. Click here for a story KARE 11 did about the bill.
House Republican Budget Priorities
Last week the House, Senate, and the Governor each unveiled their budget proposals based on the latest two-year forecast. Leaders in the Minnesota House gave a sense of what their budget priorities are going to look like. The so called “budget targets” aren’t complete spending plans but give rough amounts for spending in each area of state government. Below are the proposals for spending increases and decreases from the forecast:
|
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Governor
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State Senate
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State House
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E-12 Education
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+ $694 million
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+ $350 million
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+ $157 million
|
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Higher Education
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+ $288 million
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+ $205 million
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+ $53 million
|
|
Tax reductions
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$138 million
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$460 million
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$ 2.26 billion
|
|
Health Care, Nursing Homes, Disability Services
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+ $341 million
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+ $341 million
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- $1.15 billion
|
|
Environment/Agriculture/Jobs Programs
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+ $82 million
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+ $45 million
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- $35 million
|
|
Transportation
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+ $26 million
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+ $25 million
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+ $148 million
|
|
Public Safety
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+ $147 million
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+ $117 million
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+ $82 million
|
|
State Government/Veterans
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+ $63 million
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+ $52 million
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- $67 million
|
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Budget Reserve
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+ $0
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+ $250 million
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+ 100 million
|
|
Total Net Spending
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$42.98 billion
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$42.73 billion
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$42.58 billion
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I understand that we have disagreements on amounts, but I’m hopeful we’ll come to a balanced solution in the end. My greatest concern right now is the House proposal to spend $15 on undefined tax giveaways for every $1 spent on education. It amounts to a less than 1% increase for K-12 schools. That amount isn’t enough to offset inflation and other things out of schools’ control. That means they’d have to cut their budgets and likely increase class sizes.
I’m also very concerned about the $1 billion cut to the Health budget. That’s the budget that funds nursing homes and services for people with disabilities. It doesn’t seem appropriate at a time when we have a nearly $2 billion surplus.
House Republican Transportation package released
House Republicans unveiled their updated Transportation Funding package last week and compared to the last one, it begins to address the scale of our roads crisis. It has increased from a $2 billion/10 year plan to $7 billion over 10 years. However I have some concerns that I hope can be addressed.
First, it ignores those of us who live, work, and commute in the metro. It cuts transit programs that take drivers off our roads and reduce congestion. And it reduces transit investments that make our communities more livable for people as they age. We need a comprehensive transportation package that addresses the needs of all Minnesotans.
Second, a large share ($3.2 billion) of the “new” transportation money comes from shifting around funds that are normally used to pay for schools, public safety, nursing homes, and care for people with disabilities. This means there will be less money for these things in the future. There is also money “found through efficiencies”, which isn’t detailed enough for me.
Third, a lot of the new road money is just new debt. For a long time, we haven’t used general bonding for road projects because road maintenance is an ongoing cost. Roads always need fixing and we have a lot that will need to be fixed in the next 10 years. We should find a way to address our roads crisis without racking up new debt.
As always, I am honored to serve the people of Richfield and Bloomington. Please feel free to contact me at 651-296-7158 or rep.linda.slocum@house.mn.
All my best,
Linda