Funding for jobs programs

A temporary increase in a fee paid by employers on taxable wages would help fund programs to put unemployed Minnesotans back to work, under provisions of a bill passed April 15 by a House division.

Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) sponsors HF869, the omnibus higher education and workforce development finance bill. It would provide $2.9 billion in biennial funding for the state’s employment and economic development programs. The House Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division voted 15-4 to approve the bill and send it to the House Finance Committee.

The jobs and economic development portion of the bill would fund the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Department of Labor and Industry and a variety of professional licensure boards. It would ask for approximately $16 million more than Gov. Tim Pawlenty includes in his budget recommendations.

The bill would raise $35.4 million in new revenue through a temporary biennial increase in the workforce assessment fee levied on employers. During an April 15 hearing, Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) moved to delete the provision, arguing it would be coming at a time when businesses can least afford it. Her motion was defeated.

The bill includes $15 million for a proposed Minnesota Emergency Employment Development program similar to the one used to combat unemployment in the early 1980s. It would provide employers with a wage subsidy to hire laid-off workers.

Funding for programs Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposes to cut in his budget recommendations would be partially restored by the bill. This includes the Minnesota Inventors Congress, the Minnesota Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs and the Minneapolis and St. Paul Summer Youth Programs. The bill also includes proposed funding increases for workforce development programs like Twin Cities RISE! and the NetWork for Better Futures.

The bill also includes a provision that would forgive nearly $33 million of a $48 million no-interest loan the City of St. Paul took out in 1998 to help build the Xcel Energy Center. The city would divert the money to finance construction of The Pond — a proposed 120,000-square foot, three-level ice arena across the street from the Xcel.

A companion, SF155, sponsored by Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul), awaits action by the Senate Higher Education Budget and Policy Division.