Dear Neighbor,
Here’s wishing you and your family a blessed Easter/Passover holiday.
The House will take a brief break next week to recognize the holiday before returning for the second half of the 2018 legislative session. The preliminary bill deadlines have passed and some more of my bills received hearings this week. Those include:
- H.F. 1722 would open negotiations between BNSF Railway and the state to extends the Northstar Line commuter rail service from Big Lake to St. Cloud. The proposal adds at least two round-trip departures (one in the morning and one in the evening) between St. Cloud and Big Lake to Minneapolis. The bill passed on a bipartisan voice vote from the Transportation Policy Committee to the Transportation Finance Committee.
- H.F. 3817, a bill to move the central office of MNSCU to one or more campuses governed by the Board of Trustees. The goal is to provide better access to students as well as faculty by streamlining operations with the central office on campus. The bill was held over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus Higher Education bill.
- H.F. 3384 exempts certain items used in charitable gambling from sales tax. Charitable gambling (e.g. pull tabs and bingo) funds a variety of charities in our area and across the state. Yet it is very highly taxed. Many organizations pay out more in tax to the state than they donate to charities. This bill would reduce the level of tax they pay, allowing for them to donate more to local charities. The bill was held over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus Tax bill.
Meanwhile, proposals House members have authored to improve school safety also continue making their way through the process. The House has been working to approach school safety improvements from multiple standpoints and that is reflected in the package of bills we have unveiled. Mental health and school security are two primary issues this series of bills addresses. It is important to note that, instead of creating a one-size-fits-all security umbrella, we are not only allowing, but urging local officials and citizens to collaborate with these resources to craft solutions that best fit their needs.
Below are some of the solutions currently advancing through the committee process:
- School resources officers, student support personnel, and other school security programs funded through increased Safe Schools revenue, including a minimum level of funding for small schools.
- School facility security upgrades, and expanded use of Facility Maintenance revenue for security projects, including emergency communications systems.
- School-linked mental health programing to ensure better outcomes for all kids.
- Physical security audit grants to provide state assistance to review facility security and crisis management policies.
- Suicide prevention training for teachers to help educators learn how to engage and assist students experiencing mental distress.
- School-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers, and staff.
I have also been working on our proposed House budget, which will be finalized once we return from the break. At that point the various omnibus bills will come together and pass through Ways and Means Committee and the House floor, at which time they will be negotiated in conference committee and hopeful agreement with all parties by our May 21 constitutional adjournment date.
Again, my best wishes for a blessed Easter or Passover.
Sincerely,
Jim