Greetings from the Floor,
The House took up many General Register bills this week on the floor. People refer to bills that are not large omnibus bills as General Register bills (the idea being that bills sit on the General Register between being voted out of committee and debated on the House floor). Most of these bills are non-controversial bills that receive unanimous, or close to unanimous, support. A couple of the more notable, or controversial, bills are below (with the way I voted):
- HF 3196: establishes processes for health plan overrides of denied coverage for prescription drugs if certain conditions are met (Yes)
- HF 2802: grants an exemption for municipalities that invest in capital improvements to treatment facilities in order to comply with new effluent limits from having to make additional capital improvements due to new effluent limits for up to 16 years (Yes)
- HF 390: creates enhanced penalties for protesters who block freeways, airport access or transit lines (No)
- SF 2849: requires physicians to allow a patient to view ultrasound imaging prior to an abortion (No)
The House passed all of the supplemental budget bills off the floor last week, and the House/Senate conference committees started up this week. I anticipate these conference committees will meet through the weekend, and bring these bills back to the House floor early next week. With one week remaining in the legislative session for the year, I hope we are able to process these bills before we adjourn. The clock is ticking, and although we don’t face any threats of a state government shutdown if these bills are not signed into law, many important funding measures need to happen. The biggest item that comes to my mind which received considerable funding in these bills is for Direct Service Providers in the Health and Human Services Bill.
The House Bonding Bill was released last Friday, and moved through the Ways and Means Committee this week. The bill allows for $825 million in General Obligation bonds. It was amended in the Ways and Means Committee to add $250 million for trunk highway bonds to be used on the Corridors of Commerce program, trunk highway rail road grade separations and improvements to Department of Transportation facilities. The rail road grade separation dollars could be used for planning on the 11th Street underpass, but not the 20/21 Street project because no trunk highways are involved with the 20/21 Street project. Some local provisions in the House Bonding Bill are as follows:
- $7 million for the Clay County Resource Recovery Facility
- $628,000 for Weld Hall at Minnesota State University Moorhead
- $20 million for flood mitigation projects (Moorhead is eligible to receive some of this money for work in the annexed Oakport neighborhoods)
The Senate Bonding Bill was released this week, and does have $7 million to help with the cost overruns of the 20/21 Street underpass project. I anticipate the House will take up the Bonding Bill on the floor early next week. One area that I’d like to see better funded in the House and Senate Bonding Bills is higher education. Governor Dayton proposed $298.5 million in bonding for the University of Minnesota and $274.5 million for the Minnesota State system. The House bill includes $78.5 million and $122.8 million for the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State system, respectively. The Senate bill includes $95.4 million and $120.2 million for the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State system, respectively. These dollars would keep higher education strong for the future of Minnesota’s students and economy. If we don’t keep up with the maintenance and needs of our campuses, it will only cost more in the long run and hinder Minnesota’s ability to be economically competitive.
On Thursday morning, the House and Senate held a Joint Convention to elect a new regent to the University of Minnesota’s board of governance. The newly elected regent is Dr. Randy Simonson, a veterinarian and entrepreneur of Worthington. Dr. Simonson replaced Dr. Patricia Simmons who resigned from the Board of Regents in March. Congratulations to Dr. Simonson on his election!
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben |
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