Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week, the Education Finance Committee passed its omnibus bill which will fund Minnesota schools and education programs for the next two years. In total, the bill spends $16.867 billion and places $179 more on the biennial per pupil funding formula statewide.
Additionally, the bill places a priority on early childhood education with a $30 million increase for early learning scholarship and a $9.5 million increase for school readiness aid.
What's more, the legislation looks to tackle Minnesota's achievement gap by providing additional funding for Reading Corps and Success for Future Grants. It also looks to make sure that achieving the dream of higher education isn't out of reach for lower income students by providing ACT reimbursements to cover the cost of college entrance exams.
The Education Omnibus bill incorporates many of the reforms in HF 2 passed earlier this session by the House including teacher tenure reform, streamlining and clarifying the out-of-state teacher licensure process, and by allowing districts to tap community experts for certain technical and career education programs.
It was also great to see local Forest Lake parent Jason Fountain speak about education before the committee this week. I always appreciate hearing from constituents about these important legislative issues!
Now that this bill has passed out of Education Finance, its next stop is the Ways and Means Committee. From there, it will be sent to the House Floor for a general vote.
I will keep you updated on this omnibus bill, along with others, as they continue to be finalized and move through the committee process in the coming weeks.
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As always, thank you for the honor and privilege of being your state representative. If I can ever be of assistance to you or your family on a matter of state government, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Bob