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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL)

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Minneapolis Should be a Political Target

Friday, April 24, 2015

Neighbors,

This has been a busy week at the Capitol, but I thought I’d take some time to inform you of some disturbing developments for people in our community. We have been focusing on the large omnibus spending packages this week. These will go to conference committees with our State Senate counterparts. They will need to be signed by Governor Dayton to become law. It appears House Republicans are using some bills to target Minneapolis as a political tool. While I don’t find this surprising, I do find this disappointing.

Picking on Minneapolis Students

The House Republican Education bill has many components. I’m pleased that several of my proposals are included, such as new funding for concurrent enrollment “college in the schools” classes, enhanced reporting on homeless students, and continuing efforts to help work with students with the most challenging behavior problems.

Unfortunately, the overall bill falls far short of what Minnesota student’s need and deserve and targets Minneapolis in particular ways. It is a reflection of House leadership’s decision to prioritize spending on tax cuts, mostly for businesses and the wealthy, over education funding at every level.

-First, the size of the proposal is simply too small. The bill proposes increasing general education funding by less than 1% each of the next two years. When you hold funding to schools virtually flat, it will lead to layoffs and higher class sizes. Schools in our neighborhood are struggling financially right now. Sponsors of the bill have stated that they want to close the opportunity and achievement gap but they haven’t been willing to invest in schools to make that happen.

-Second, the bill limits increases in school funding dedicated to educating the students most at risk of falling behind. This is called compensatory funding and is targeted to schools based on how many low income students they have. No surprise, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, many inner ring suburban, and larger rural districts get the largest share of this money. Decreasing future amounts of this money seems counter intuitive given statements about the need to close the opportunity and achievement gap. Minneapolis Public Schools have stated simply that “the district’s poorest schools would get less funding in the future to work with at risk students.’

-Lastly, it shifts some education funding from state aid to Minneapolis property taxes. MPS has sent out an action alert that you can find here.

Picking on Minneapolis Residents

Local Government Aid (LGA) was created to ensure that no matter where you live in Minnesota, you can count on a basic standard of services like police, fire protection, drinkable water, and parks – without paying an unreasonable level of property taxes. The program has been around for over forty years and we reformed its funding formula two years ago, simplifying and updating it.

This week, House Republicans unveiled a tax bill that singles out cities with DFL elected officials for enormous cuts in LGA. Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and Duluth were cut, while Rochester and the small towns across Minnesota were spared. Our city would see at $34.4 million cut to its general fund – while the state has a $2 billion surplus. The Star Tribune editorial board contacted me about it when they wrote their rebuke, found here.

These policies are reflective of some outmoded attitudes in parts of our state about the people who live in Minneapolis. It’s disappointing when they make their way into the work we do at the Capitol. Late Tuesday night, a house member made some very offensive comments about the people of North Minneapolis that he has since apologized for. Often we need to move past partisan and geographic divides.

Picking on Minneapolis Public Servants

The State Government Finance Bill (which we are debating as I send this) has a provision that I find imprudent and poor fiscal policy. A few years ago, when it looked like the Minneapolis Employment Retirement Fund (MERF) looked unsustainable, it was merged into the Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERA). This was done to prevent its failure – which would have been more expensive and which we’d all have to pay for. It took a few years, but now the fund is looking solid and getting a good return – ahead of schedule. Instead of letting it further stabilize, House leaders are prematurely lessening support for the fund. In light of the Great Recession, the fiscally responsible thing to is to ensure stability and lessen the risk for taxpayers and the people who paid into this pension. It’s also important to remember the men and women in the MERF plan do not receive Social Security benefits.

I will continue to work so that our community is treated fairly by other state leaders. Please contact me with any questions or suggestions by email at rep.jim.davnie@house.mn or by phone at 651.296.0173.

 

Sincerely,

Jim Davnie