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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL)

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Upcoming Issues

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Dear Friends,

The serious work of putting together a two-year state budget has begun. Many of the committees I serve on have been reviewing the Governor’s budget proposals and have started to review and pass smaller bills. A revenue projection in January showed that the state received $85 million more than anticipated. This could mean that the state’s budget surplus will be greater than the anticipated $1.3 billion, but we still need to wait for the full report before we start making decisions on how much various agencies might receive. The full report should come out around the end of this month.

Upcoming Issues

This legislative session I’m serving four committees. Based on recent years, I expect a few issues to come before me that you might want to watch for.

In the Property Tax and Local Government Finance Division, there are plenty of rumors, precedent, and growing fear on my part that Minnesotans will be pitted against each other just because they live in different parts of the state. I fear that some GOP members will push to significantly reduce Local Government Aid (LGA) for Minneapolis (and other large cities). This agenda is based on a flawed notion that Minneapolis receives more than its fair share compared to Greater Minnesota cities.  In fact, there are many Greater Minnesota cities that receive more LGA on a per capita basis than Minneapolis. We reformed the formula that governs LGA and increased funding for the program just two years ago.

I would rather that we build upon the initiatives of the past two years and pursue property tax and aid policies that ensure every Minnesotan has the appropriate level of infrastructure, police and fire services, and safe water that we all deserve.

The Education Finance Committee will likely look at smaller increases in funds for K-12 schools. This strategy may not help address the needs of schools in our area. Public schools in Minneapolis serve students who face unique challenges that many in the rest of the state can’t comprehend. When 13% of our students don’t have a permanent place to call home, we need to keep pursuing the resources needed to address these needs. Though the Governor and Senate have proposed major initiatives in early childhood education and resources to address the opportunity and achievement gap, it is likely the House will have less ambitious proposals.

This year, the Education Innovation Policy Committee will likely look at many education reform proposals, much as we did this week. Some, like so-called “college in the schools” proposals have a lot of merit and broad support. Others can be contentious, even highly divisive, and are criticized for eliminating what works while trying to improve current policies.

The Tax Committee will probably look at modest changes since many in the legislature do not want to go back to budgeting from crisis to crisis. Most bills considered so far have targeted tax relief to wealthy estates and corporate entities, though the committee is still months from completing its work.

To stay updated on upcoming hearings on bills you can visit: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/calendarday.aspx?jday=all

On each committee’s webpage, you can sign up for emails that tell you when bills are going to be heard.

As always, feel free to contact me directly with your comments and questions. You can reach me by phone at (651) 296-0173 or by email at rep.jim.davnie@house.mn. Thank you for the honor of serving you at the State House.

 

Sincerely,

Jim Davnie