Dear Neighbors,
There are just over four weeks left in the legislative session, with the third and final committee deadline for bills coming tomorrow. Soon, more time will be spent on the House Floor as we discuss budget bills and other pieces of legislation.
Today I had the opportunity to meet with members of the United Steelworkers who visited the Capitol for their day on the hill. We talked about the status of the legislative session, and had a healthy discussion about the labor movement overall and its vital importance to our state’s success. I’m honored to work alongside them to create more quality, good paying jobs.
State Budget
Earlier in the session, Gov. Mark Dayton outlined his detailed budget proposal, with greater investments in education, job creation efforts, and a tax proposal focused on fairness for everyone, not just the wealthy. Late last week, the House majority released their budget targets for each subject area, and this week we saw various bills emerge.
We have a modest, $329 million budget surplus. I’ll be working to ensure the session ends productively, by delivering more opportunities for Minnesotans and their families to succeed while maintaining our state’s strong fiscal stability.
Investing in Students
One area in which the Governor’s and the House Majority’s approaches have differed is education. In his budget proposal, Governor Dayton came forward with help for school districts’ unfunded special education obligations, working to eliminate what’s known as the “cross-subsidy.” He also has a plan to extend our successful voluntary pre-K opportunities beyond next school year. Unfortunately, under the Republican plan, state support for special education wouldn’t start catching up until 2022, and there are no additional investments in pre-K for our youngest learners.
The Higher Education bill also has room to improve, with few resources to lower college tuition, while earmarking $5 million for a single program at a single state university. Instead, we should make a greater investment spread out across all campuses to lower student tuition.
Last week, I mentioned a meeting I had with a group of educators who are saddled with student debt. Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in this country, and we can’t afford to go the wrong direction.
One of the things that makes Minnesotans so proud of our state is our strong commitment to public education. In order to continue this tradition, it will require the necessary investments in students, teachers, and families to ensure everyone has the opportunities they need to achieve.
Child Care Concerns
I also recently had the opportunity to have a meeting with eight in-home child care providers in the district to hear about their challenges and we talked about the difficulty parents have finding affordable care. While the Legislature continues to talk about this issue, it’s time to push for real solutions to this growing barrier many families face. Reimbursement rates continue to be far too low, and there are common-sense measures we can take to reduce regulations which provide difficulty in starting and maintaining a daycare operation. I want to thank staff at both St. Louis County and the Minnesota Department of Human Services for being so receptive to these needs and for their willingness to work with our providers on solutions.
I recently introduced a bill to provide grants to licensed family daycare providers, prioritizing them for areas where there is a documented shortage. These grants would both encourage more folks to start child care businesses and can help address the cost of becoming “Parent Aware” rated, a key quality rating system.
Protecting Pensions
After several years of efforts, we’re on the verge of making progress to improve the solvency of our state’s public employee pension plans. The good news is people are living longer, but the bad news is that it has made our assumptions for Minnesota’s pensions not line up with reality. These teachers, police officers, and other Minnesotans who have worked hard their entire careers deserve economic security when they retire. The bipartisan fix would include contribution increases from both the employees and state, changes to early retirement policies, and some small decreases in cost of living adjustments for retirees. This fix would go a long way as it cuts Minnesota’s long-term liability in half.
A few weeks back, the Senate passed this package of reforms unanimously, but it awaits action in the House. Here’s a story from Minnesota Public Radio following the Senate’s passage of the bill, almost one month ago. I’m fearful that similarly to recent years, this bill may be used as a bargaining piece during end-of-session negotiations between the Governor and legislative leadership. It would be irresponsible to let a solution so many people have worked so hard on slip away. This is the fiscally responsible solution that keeps our promises to public workers, and I hope we can pass it soon.
MNLARS
One issue I’ve heard from many folks about this session is the new Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS). The rollout of this system last year had significant problems and caused delays for Minnesotans seeking vehicle titles and completing similar transactions. When such a fundamental government service isn’t working right, we have an obligation to ensure it’s fixed.
Earlier this session, we delivered some emergency resources to our state’s Driver and Vehicle Services division to keep information technology professionals on board to continue system repairs. Today, we’re poised to pass a bill providing needed relief to our deputy registrars who have experienced countless headaches working with the system.
Unfortunately, much of the discussion at the Capitol about this issue has devolved to finger-pointing. While we certainly have to examine what went wrong, we need to also focus on solutions ensuring MNLARS performs at the level Minnesotans expect. Especially with Real ID requirements on the horizon, we must make sure all of the prior problems are corrected and we can count on the system to be fully operational.
Please keep in touch, and don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Julie Sandstede
State Representative