Dear Neighbors,
I’d like to thank each and every one of you who attended our town hall meeting on Saturday. It was clear how engaged our community is and serves as a reminder of how important our work is at the Capitol.
Discussions on the state budget are ongoing in St. Paul. Over this past weekend, House and Senate Republican leadership met behind closed doors to develop conference committee agreements on the major budget areas. Unfortunately, many of the inadequate investments that were initially in the bills when they first passed the House remain in these versions. Their K-12 bill doesn’t fund inflationary costs for schools, which will lead to larger class sizes and higher property taxes. The Higher Education bill will lead to lower quality and higher tuition at UMD and other public colleges and universities. The massive cuts in the Health and Human Services bill represent for the first time, in my 25 years as a health care economist, the objective of actually trying to cover fewer people. In these press releases, I share in-depth thoughts on the Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and Tax bills.
These funding amounts are so meager because the Republican majority’s top priority is a massive package of tax breaks, mostly benefiting the richest Minnesotans and other well connected corporate special interests, like big tobacco. When our “budget surplus” is discussed, inflation isn’t accounted for in forecasted spending. Therefore, we have very little real budget surplus. Budgeting this way is irresponsible, and will lead to massive budget deficits in future years.
Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders are working through their differences to reach a compromise. Gov. Dayton has been fully engaged in this process all session, and is working toward a result improving opportunities for all Minnesotans. He has clearly articulated both his priorities, as well as items he finds unacceptable. The Governor has been frequently in touch with legislative leaders this session, sending 190 pages of input from state agency commissioners outlining his priorities, as well as items he objects to.
Members of the Governor’s cabinet have engaged with the Legislature 1,676 times since the session began; this includes 538 appearances before legislative committees and 1,138 individual meetings with members of the House and Senate. David Montgomery, a reporter with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, put together this chart highlighting the involvement by the Governor, his Commissioners and staff (click for full image).
In these last few weeks, it remains critical for everyone to remain engaged. The only way we will see these bills improved is for citizens to demand better than what the Republicans in the majority are proposing. I continue to welcome your input, and it’s also important to share your thoughts with the Governor. He can be reached online here or you can call 651-201-3400.
It’s an honor to represent you at the State Capitol.
Sincerely,
Jen Schultz
State Representative