Legislative Update - April 13, 2018

Greetings from the Floor,

Bills passed off the House floor this week were:

HF 2899: clarifies that a contractor, adjuster or insurer must provide written notification to a homeowner that the contractor, adjuster or insurer is not responsible for paying insurance deductibles if the work is paid through an insurance policy

HF 3755: revises “Sophie’s Law” for carbon monoxide detectors on boats

HF 3224: makes technical changes for internal governance of state chartered credit unions

HF 3095: modifies current law around organized solid waste collection

The Legislature returned to business on Monday after a break to celebrate the Easer and Passover holidays.  Most work was done this week in committees as they heard bills before the final committee deadline next Friday.  The Property Tax and Local Government Division met yesterday afternoon in addition to its regular Wednesday morning meeting.  Two bills of note were HFs 3493 and 3830.  HF 3493 would fund a one-time $30.5 million increase for Local Government Aid (LGA).  This funding would bring the program up to 2002 funding levels.  2002 funding levels are often used as a high-water mark for LGA because it was after 2002 when cuts to the program began in the face of state budget deficits and the Great Recession. 

HF 3830 would cut LGA dollars to cities that have local option sales taxes by the amounts the local sales taxes would generate.  I do not agree with this bill for a number of reasons.  First, local option sales taxes are most often used to finance specific regional projects that cannot be supported alone through city levies and property tax collections.  Second, it would reduce the integrity of the LGA program which benefits the entire state.  If cities are penalized for having local sales taxes, it erodes the equalizing factor that LGA represents for quality, affordable services no matter where Minnesotans live.  Lastly, cutting LGA to cities that have local sales taxes could force cities to rethink local sales taxes and forgo important infrastructure projects (it could effectively set up a situation where cities have to decide between regional infrastructure projects or basic services such as snow plowing streets and public safety).

On Wednesday, the Higher Education and Career Readiness Finance and Policy Committee heard HF 4234.  This bill would direct the Minnesota State System to submit a plan to the Legislature for moving the two year technical and community colleges to the K-12 education system.  Rep. Pelowski, the bill’s author, argued it would bring skilled learning back to high schools.  In creating the plan, the Minnesota State system would have to consider college credit transfers and bonding needs for new facilities.  The Minnesota State system would also have to consult with the Minnesota Department of Education and local school districts on issues such as K-12 funding formulas, college financial aid, credentials to award degrees or certificates, and tuition.  I did vote for this bill as I am interested in the conversation and how exactly such a move would work.  The bill passed out of committee and was sent to the Education Committee; however, there is no Senate companion at this time so that may dilute the chances of the bill becoming law this year.  I find this to be a very interesting issue as we need to get more people into the workforce, specifically for trades, healthcare, manufacturing and information technology.  Although I agree more focus on vocational and technical education needs to happen, we cannot look so much at two year colleges that we lose focus and forget about four year universities.  The four year campuses have just as much to contribute to workforce development, and personal career success as two year colleges.  I’d like to know how such a move could improve education and contribute to a stronger economy.

House proposed supplemental budget numbers were released yesterday by the Ways and Means Committee.  These numbers reflect proposed General Fund changes to the current budget, and are as follows:

These numbers are known as budget targets, and no additional policy details were provided.  It is now up to each individual House committee to determine which policies will be funded through the above budget targets.

Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,

Ben