Friends,
I hope you had a nice Passover and Easter weekend with your loved ones. It was nice to spend time with my family before we were back at work this week to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills and begin negotiations with Governor Dayton. Read below to get an update on REAL ID, an explanation the conference committee process, and see my interview about some key education reforms with our local station. Have a great weekend!
REAL ID Conference Committee
As chair of the REAL ID Conference Committee, I am excited that we have gotten to work on resolving the differences between the House and Senate versions of the REAL ID bill. The first meeting took place this Tuesday as we examined the bills side-by-side with non-partisan research to begin the discussion on the differences. We have a number of meetings scheduled over the next couple weeks and I am looking forward to the work ahead. As a reminder, you can watch the video I put together on REAL ID here.
Rep. Smith chairing the REAL ID Conference Committee
Conference Committees Begin Work
The House and Senate passed all of the budget omnibus bills that will fund state government and its essential duties over the next two years before we recessed for Passover and Easter Break. The next step is now conference committees where appointed House and Senate members are beginning to compare similar provisions in the bills and negotiate to come up with a final compromise. My hope is that Governor Dayton and his agencies also participate in the conference committee process so that we can work through our differences to come to a final agreement.
House Public Services wrote an article about the entire process you can read here.
Rep Smith & Senator Pratt during Conference Committee discussions
Interview on Teacher Retention Reform
Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Channel 12 News about teacher the current teacher lay-off policy of "Last-In, First-Off" or LIFO. It means that currently school districts lay-off the most recently hired teachers, regardless of their performance or any other factors. Predictably, this has led to many young, high-quality teachers losing their jobs and quitting the profession all together. This problem is exemplified by a neighboring school district that just had to lay off a 2014 Teacher of the Year due to the archaic LIFO rubric.
Our students deserve the best education possible and moving away from the LIFO model will help make sure the best teachers are kept where they belong: in the classroom. You can read more and watch the interview here.
Please continue to share your thoughts with me about our state government; bill ideas and concerns are welcomed! I am honored to serve you at the Capitol. My email address is Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn, phone number 651-296-5502, and by mail: 375 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Rep. Smith with constituent in the Capitol Rotunda
Have a great weekend!
Dennis