In This Edition:
- Budget Targets
- Education Committee Update
- At the Capitol
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Here is an update with the latest news from the Capitol and around the community.
Budget Targets
This week, the House adopted budget targets which committee chairs will use to craft supplemental budget bills or find spending reductions. The key takeaway with our targets is that we’re focusing on what Minnesotans’ prioritize including transportation, tax relief and school safety.
For taxes, the target is $107 million which will cover costs of creating conformity with federal tax changes, simplifying our state tax code, and providing more meaningful relief to taxpayers. In transportation, we’re dedicating $101 million (in addition to the $300 million provided in last year’s budget) to fixing our roads and bridges—a core duty and function of government. We want to continue improving infrastructure and supporting projects that will help alleviate metro area congestion. Furthermore, our plan reduces spending by $7 million for state government as our committee overseeing state agencies works toward advancing more efficiencies and cost-saving measures to protect taxpayers.
The Education Committee, of which I am chair, was given $30 million for FY19 which will largely be invested in the school safety package I discussed last week. Additional funding for the complete package, which totals approximately $50 million, would be allocated in other committees.
Education Committee Update
This week, the House Education Finance Committee did an overview of Governor Dayton’s $45.8 million supplemental budget proposal for education for FY19. While there are some areas where we disagree, there is significant common ground—especially in the area of school safety and mental health services for students.
With the third committee deadline fast approaching, we are working to craft our final supplemental budget bill in the Education Finance Committee. You may recall that last year we made significant investments in students and schools across the state, and our schools are fully funded through the biennium. Therefore, we are focusing on specific needs like physical building upgrades to create more secure school facilities, additional mental health services, and funding for support personnel and school resource officers to ensure our children’s safety and well-being at school. I will share more with you on our supplemental bill soon.
At the Capitol
There were a number of constituents who came to visit the Capitol this week, including a great group of third graders and their teachers from Cedar Ridge Elementary School. Thank you to the students and their parent chaperones for visiting with me and for your excellent questions!
Testifying with Pat MulQueeny, President of the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, on my fiscal disparities legislation in the Property Tax Division this week.
With Lobsang Namru, an Eden Prairie registered nurse who specializes in serving patients in the mental health unit of a local hospital.
With Eden Prairie U of M students who were at the Capitol this week
Metro State University and North Central University students were in St. Paul for Social Work Day at the Capitol
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If you need assistance on a matter related to state government, or have questions, comments or suggestions about what is happening in the Legislature, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you!
Sincerely,
Jenifer Loon