Greetings from the Floor,
Bills passed off the House floor this week were:
HF 2887: prohibits adoption of the state Department of Agriculture’s proposed nitrogen fertilizer restriction rule
HF 3841: increases the threshold for municipal governments before sealed bids must be used on construction or maintenance services
HF 3243: allows utilities to factor current and future pension costs into rate basing
HF 3295: enables unmarried parents who have filed a Recognition of Parentage form to also file a joint petition to establish child custody, parenting time and child support
HF 3551: technical updates to the Safe at Home program
HF 3249: requires drivers to slow down when passing stopped emergency, utility or construction vehicles on two lane roads
HF 2835: appropriates $9 million from Driver and Vehicle Services special revenue accounts to reimburse deputy registrars for working overtime as a result of the MNLARS rollout
The House committees wrapped up work on supplemental budget bills this week. The Agriculture Finance Bill appropriates $200,000 for rural mental health, $30,000 for University of Minnesota Extension Farm Educators, and sends $35 million in state bonding dollars to the Rural Finance Authority. The Agriculture Finance Bill also includes the policy language from HF 2887 above. I voted “yes” to pass the bill out of committee for the funding initiatives to help the agricultural economy in Greater Minnesota.
Some provisions in the Property Tax and Local Government Division Report are:
- reductions in Local Government Aid (LGA) and County Program Aid (CPA) for “sanctuary cities” or “sanctuary counties”
- 12-year exemptions from the State General Levy for natural gas pipelines at a cost of $10,000 per fiscal year
- allowance of up to 3 acres of land used for environmental benefits (like buffer strips) to be classified as agricultural land
- allowance for owners of manufactured homes to apply for the Property Tax Refund beginning in Fiscal Year 2020
- granting of agricultural homestead property classification to properties held as a family farm venture
- exempts from property taxes all licensed child care facilities that are operated as part of a church’s mission.
The division report also includes other various local sales tax and Tax Increment Finance provisions. I offered an amendment to increase LGA by $30.5 million, but it was defeated. I did not vote the report out of the division as I don’t agree with the subjective reductions to LGA or CPA outside of the established program formulas.
The Higher Education and Career Readiness Finance Bill appropriates $5 million to Metro State in St. Paul to create a new cyber security program. This was not requested at all by the Minnesota State system as the Board of Trustees requested any new dollars go toward tuition relief. While the bill does appropriate $500,000 to the Office of Higher Education for the State Grant program and student loan debt counseling, the bill doesn’t directly address tuition at any public technical/community college or university. An amendment was offered in committee to appropriate the $5 million designated for Metro State to the Minnesota State and University of Minnesota systems for tuition relief, but was defeated. This is all very odd to me as Gov. Dayton recommended funding last year to improve cyber security for Minnesota, but this recommendation was not funded by the Legislature. The main purpose of the Higher Education and Career Readiness Committee needs to be student debt relief and tuition, not cyber security. I did not vote for the bill out of committee.
To see spread sheets for all of the supplemental budget bills, please go to the House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis Department website at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/Fiscal/Home/TrackingSheets.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben