Dear neighbor,
A bill to patch budget holes, and the revelation that Gov. Mark Dayton’s commissioners received substantial raises are some of this week’s top developments in St. Paul.
A major headline this week has been the news that Governor Dayton approved large raises for some of his political appointees. For some employees, this translates to an increase of more than $35,000 on their salaries that were already over $100,000 per year. This is a product of legislation Democrats enacted when they had one-party control of state government during the last biennium. A new law they enacted allows the governor to offer salary increases unilaterally, without the legislative authorization that was previously required. This news just came to light this week due to a law requiring Dayton to report them 30 days after they took effect.
These raises are particularly galling when it comes to agencies that are asking for more money in the so-called deficiency bill. The deficiency bill is a bill that gives state agencies that are running short of funds in this year additional money to make it to the end of the year.
I am always skeptical of a government agency coming back before the Legislature seeking more money because they have not been able to make their budget for the year. However, in a few cases there is some justification. One example is pertains to containing Ebola. Another focuses on the state hospital in St. Peter.
The Ebola issue follows action last year from four hospitals and emergency providers that were asked to take action to prepare isolation facilities if we were to face an Ebola outbreak in Minnesota. They spent money and took on a substantial risk to protect citizens and this impacted their budget. The Dept of Health also incurred significant costs. The hospitals and Dept. of Health did a good job with this, but concerns have arisen regarding whether federal funds were properly used by the Dept of Health in this effort. We will be scrutinizing this issue, but we do need to reimburse the hospitals, emergency providers, and Dept of Health for the funds expended in this situation that could not have been foreseen back when their budget was approved in 2013.
The St. Peter State Hospital is the place where seriously mentally ill and dangerous psychopaths in the state are committed. It is running short of funds this budget cycle due to a couple of court orders that have significantly increased its costs, and safety upgrades whose need has become apparent since the killing of one resident by another resident last year.
While I believe we do need to appropriate additional money to deal with the shortfalls described above, I also think the Legislature should have been told about the governor’s raises for his commissioners of the departments overseeing these areas. The additional funds these agencies are requesting should be reduced by the amount of money these raises are costing these departments.
Lastly, as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I continue working on the outline of our body’s state budget proposal. The committee had a hearing Monday to discuss the budget plan Dayton recently issued and the commissioner of Minnesota Management & Budget attended to field questions.
One provision from the governor’s plan that is receiving increased scrutiny is one that provides tax subsidies for child care. A sticking point is the governor would provide tax credits to people who earn all the way up to $124,000 per year. Some child care subsidies are helpful, but the cutoff should be at a more modest income level to ensure we are helping people who are truly in need.
I will keep you posted as issues develop.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Knoblach