By Sam Walseth, MREA Lobbyist As the revenue debate comes into focus so does a reality check on the likelihood of education funding for the next two years. A couple of things seems almost certain. First, about $45 million will be spent on early childhood scholarships in the next two years. Second, all day, every day kindergarten will become a … Read More
Revenue Debate Comes into Focus
By Sam Walseth, MREA lobbyist After two grueling floor debates, the House and Senate passed their omnibus tax bills. The bills raise the revenue needed to close the projected $627 million deficit and increase spending in priority areas for the DFL majorities next biennium. The House tax bill creates a new fourth tier income tax rate of 8.49% on household … Read More
Closing the 5th-95th Gap through Equity, Equalization & Education Advancement
By Sam Walseth, MREA Lobbyist On the equity front, there are two really good proposals in play right now. House Education Chair Paul Marquart spends $30 million on an ‘enhanced equity’ formula for districts with less than $300/pupil in operating referendum authority. This would be an aid/levy revenue program. Combined with another $30 million in new referendum equalization aid, the … Read More
Bullying Debate on House Floor Monday
By Sam Walseth, MREA Lobbyist Anti-bullying legislation has been moving through the legislative process this session. Spurred forward by an interim task force sponsored by Governor Dayton, advocates for kids who have suffered from bullying behavior in school are pushing legislation that would requires school personnel to get trained on, report on and better manage bullying among students in their … Read More
Omnibus Education Bills Pass
By Sam Walseth, MREA Chief Lobbyist After eight hours of debate on the House floor Tuesday night and eight hours of debate on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, the omnibus education bills passed and are headed to a conference committee. There were several contentious issues during debate in both bodies, the most significant revolving around the repeal of the Math … Read More
Session End Game Begins
By Sam Walseth, MREA Chief Lobbyist With three weeks to go until the end of session, the “end game” process is about to begin. This week conference committees will get together to walk through the various provisions in their respective budget and policy bills. Review MREA’s comparison of the the three major proposals. Meetings between legislative leaders and the Governor will … Read More
Fiscal Impact of the Bullying Bill Debated
By Sam Walseth, MREA Chief Lobbyist Minnesota Management & Budget surveyed dozens of school districts to develop a Local Impact Note (LIN) on the anti-bullying legislation moving forward in HF 826 & SF 783. Those two bills will make it to the House and Senate floors soon. The authors of the bills (Rep. Jim Davnie and Sen. Scott Dibble) are … Read More
Omnibus Bill Comparison: Bills Approach Senate Floor
The Senate may take its Omnibus bills on to the floor as soon as Thursday.View a clear comparison of the House and Senate bills at a glance: Funding: Targets, Basic Funding, Kindergarten, Early Childhood, Equity, Special Ed, Integration Taxes: ANTC Relief and Gen Ed Levy, RMV Relief and Equalization, Safe Schools Levy, Cyrus and Morris Policies: Safe and Supportive Schools, Assessment Reform, Teacher Evaluation, Health … Read More
Safe and Supportive Schools Coming to the House and Senate
The Safe and Supportive Schools legislation are now part of the Omnibus Education Bills before the House and Senate. MREA supports positive and safe school cultures for all students and stated that in our 2013 platform. But MREA has concerns about the intense prescriptions in the current bills and the costs for districts for implementation. The Costs Minnesota’s Office of … Read More
Paying for Budget Priorities
By Sam Walseth, MREA Chief Lobbyist House Tax committee members last week unveiled their plan to pay for their spending priorities. The bill raises income taxes on families earning more than $400,000 and singles earning more than $220,000. The new fourth tier income tax rate would go from 7.85% to 8.49%. Taxes on tobacco products would increase significantly including a new … Read More