Legislative Update- Bipartisan Progress on State Budget

Dear Neighbors,

Last week, the Minnesota House and Senate convened for a special session to complete work on the two-year state budget. I’m focused on delivering bipartisan compromises to help Minnesotans in our collective recovery from COVID-19, and taking action to ensure our families, workers, and small businesses have a fighting chance to thrive post-pandemic. With July 1 right around the corner, we’re making steady progress in passing bills with various DFL and GOP provisions. Compromise means each side must sacrifice priorities they would like to see included and I’m pleased to share we’ve found common ground and passed budgets in the following areas: commerce, climate & energy; higher education; agriculture; clean water, outdoors, arts, and cultural heritage projects funded through the Legacy Amendment; and transportation; housing; environment; jobs & workforce development.

Environment Budget

Yesterday, I was proud to support the Environment budget bill, which contains investments to help preserve Minnesota’s air, water, land, and wildlife for future generations. Despite an initial threat from the Senate Majority to shut down the Minnesota Zoo, I’m pleased to report the House was able to secure just over $20 million to help the Zoo care for the residents, make up lost revenue due to the pandemic and assist with operating costs after an unprecedented year. This means the Zoo will stay open. We are anticipating another $12 million in federal funds as well. There are so many other great items in this bill- read more about them here.

Education Budget

Just today we passed the Early Childhood-12 Education budget on the House Floor. We know our students need a little extra help after a challenging year in distance learning, hybrid, or the classroom, which is why we prioritized the strongest level of investment in public education in 15 years with a 2.45% increase to the general education formula in 2022, and another 2% in 2023.

The compromise bill also includes investments to provide stability to public schools during this period of uncertainty, one-time funding for the Special Education and English Learner cross subsidies or budget shortfalls, and a temporary extension of 4,000 expiring Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten slots. We are fortunate to have world-class schools in ISD #196 and I was proud to support this area of the budget to ensure we can maintain this level of excellence in our communities, and help keep our students, teachers, and families whole.

We’ll be here through the weekend and working around the clock until all bipartisan compromise components of the state budget are passed in the House and Senate. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Congrats, Payton Otterdahl!
Rosemount native Payton Otterdahl is headed to Tokyo to compete on the Track and Field Shot Put team for the U.S.A. in the Summer Olympics! We’ll be cheering you on in Japan, Payton! Read more about his journey by following KSTP’s coverage here.

Correction from last update: Leprechaun Days runs July 16-25

Keep in Touch

Please continue to contact me anytime at rep.john.huot@house.mn or 651-296-4306 with questions or input. I appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you for the honor of serving our Apple Valley, Rosemount, and Coates neighbors at the Capitol!

Have a great Sunday,

John