Dear Neighbor,
The Knoblach family would like to wish you a safe Memorial Day as we take time to honor the ultimate sacrifices citizens of our great nation have made in order to protect us and our freedoms.
As for news from St. Paul, the Legislature approved a new two-year state budget Monday night and adjourned on time. Various finance packages received strong bipartisan support on their way to passage, a testament to the work that went into shaping a new two-year state budget.
A veteran Senate Democrat said this is the most bipartisan session he's ever seen. Nobody got everything they wanted, but the agreement that was forged between the DFL Senate majority and Republican House majority was in some ways historic, in that we were able to work together after an agreement could not be reached with Governor Dayton.
However, Governor Dayton has vetoed the Education bill (see more discussion below), so there will be a special session sometime in the near future, probably in early June.
Some of the big highlights of the regular session we just concluded are:
Sustainable spending growth
The House was effective in lowering the trajectory of state spending growth this session, bringing it more in line with family budgets. The governor wanted to increase the budget to nearly $43 billion, but we held it at about $41.5 billion for FY16-17. Instead of an 11-percent increase over the two years, we will probably be looking at about half that amount.
Historic support for nursing homes
A significant component of the final budget package which passed is legislation I co-authored to overhaul the payment system for nursing homes in the state. This historic commitment will mean that some local nursing homes like Saint Benedict's Center get an increase in funding of over $2 million per year, improving the wages of care providers and doing more to meet statewide nursing home needs.
K-12 recap
Unfortunately, the governor has decided to veto the K-12 bill – which passed with bipartisan support 52-14 in the Senate 71-59 in the House – and is expected to call a special session to seek resolution.
The final package passed by the Legislature also provides $400 million in new funding for K-12 education, 72 percent of which goes directly onto the per pupil formula. At 1.5 percent in 2016 and 2 percent in 2017, the education budget dedicates more per pupil than Dayton proposed in his own budget.
It appears the governor vetoed the bill primarily because it does not provide funding for his universal pre-Kindergarten proposal. However, his proposal never passed either the House or the DFL Senate. Many Democrats in the Senate actively opposed the governor's proposal. The bill that passed did make available more than $60 million in pre-K programs based on targeting the neediest students rather than having a universal program available for all students.
There were a host of problems with the governor's proposal, including opposition from school districts because they do not have enough classrooms to accommodate these students, opposition from existing private pre-K providers, opposition from parents concerned about government overreach, and concern about the additional cost of a universal pre-K program. It is hard to envision a scenario where the governor's proposal gains widespread support in the short time between now and when a special session would take place. The governor had already dropped it in final negotiations that were taking place just before session ended. My prediction is that in special session there will be a final compromise without the governor's initiative but there will be more money on the funding formula and other targeted programs like Head Start.
Proposed gas-tax hike stalls transportation package and more
The DFL's rigid position on raising the gas tax by historic levels (at least 16 cents per gallon) at the time the state has a $2 billion surplus ultimately impacted our ability to accomplish other things such as passing a bill to cut taxes. Senate DFL Majority Leader Tom Bakk publicly stated that there would be no comprehensive transportation bill or tax bill without the gas tax increase. But the proposed gas-tax increase was overwhelmingly unpopular in the public and the House actually voted 132-0 against it.
It is disappointing a round of nearly $2 billion in tax cuts the House proposed was not included in the final budget. House proposals would have provided relief by phasing out the state's tax on Social Security. We also offered tax relief for families, veterans, farmers and to incentivize job growth. However, with about one billion dollars left unspent in the session, I believe the stage will be set for significant tax relief next year or possibly even in the special session.
A transportation plan proposed by the House also stalled over the insistence of a gas-tax increase. The House's package would have put $7 billion more toward roads and bridges over the next decade without raising taxes. The result is passage of a scaled-down two-year model that still provides substantial funding from current sources, but only modestly increases funding. A few of the increases include $5 million more for Greater Minnesota transit as well as $12.5 million in new road funding for towns with populations under 5,000 residents. The bill also included $5 million for rail safety upgrades, and nearly $1 million to establish two new emergency response teams that will be available in the event of an oil train disaster, one of which will be located in Saint Cloud. I am pleased to have helped author the Saint Cloud funding. I will certainly be working hard to pass a more comprehensive transportation solution next year, and if possible in the upcoming special session.
Eligibility reform
The nonpartisan Legislative Auditor has criticized the Department of Human Services for years for not doing an adequate job of making sure only eligible people are on the state's public health programs. Sampling they have done have indicated as much as 17 percent of the people on the state's public health programs are ineligible or on the wrong program. Legislation I authored on this issue was included in the Health and Human Services bill and will start to correct that problem by making sure only eligible people are on state public health programs.
Funding to combat avian influenza
The Legislature also provided $19 million for combating the avian influenza outbreak in Minnesota. A loan program is available for producers needing assistance in getting back into production. Beginner farmer loans, loan restructuring and livestock expansion loan programs and more are provided.
Local organizations funded
The Legislature provided Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization in Saint Cloud with state funding in its new budget. I am a former Big Brother and was pleased to author this legislation.
Thank you for your continued correspondence and I will keep you posted as things develop regarding a special session to resolve the K-12 budget.
Sincerely,
Jim