Volume 5, Issue 17 May 10, 2019
Weekly Review Video
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A weekly message from your Senator
Dear Constituents and Friends,
With just ten days left of the 2019 legislative session, the lack of agreement between leaders could imperil the goal of finishing on time. Joint budget negotiations hit a roadblock this week when leaders of the House and Senate and Governor Walz failed to reach an agreement on budget targets by their self-imposed deadline of May 6.
Although global targets have not been reached, conference committees have been working to review the differences between the House and Senate budgets; however, without budget targets, it will be difficult to negotiate the deep differences in earnest because budget targets set the funding parameters for the bills. Time is running short: leaders in the House and Senate agreed to a self-imposed deadline to post conference committee reports by Monday, May 13. Adjournment is constitutionally set for midnight May 20.
The House and Senate did meet this week to choose four new regents to fill open spots on the University of Minnesota governing board.
Three women were chosen to fill four of the spots: one-fourth of the membership will now be women. A student regent from Duluth was also chosen to fill an open spot.
The newly elected regents include Janie Mayeron, from the fifth congressional district, Michael Kenyanya, student regent, and Mary Davenport and Kao Ly Ilean Her, regents at-large.
As we get down to the wire, it continues to be helpful to hear from you what you feel is most important to maintain through budget negotiations. I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Melisa
A big thanks to our office interns, Lea and JP, who finished up their semester this week! We cannot do what we do without your invaluable help!
Tax conference committee begins work
The conference committee working out the differences between the House, Senate, and Governor’s tax proposals met four times this week. However, without a budget target – a universally agreed to amount of money the tax budget will raise and spend in the next budget cycle – there is little substantive work to accomplish.
The meetings thus far have included an overview of each body’s spreadsheet, policy language, and provisions that are largely identical in each bill. The House budget raises about $1.2 billion, largely by leveling tax obligations between average Minnesotans and corporations. Their bill invests much of the new revenue into income and property tax relief for low- and middle-income Minnesotans, including doubling the state standard deduction and improving the Working Family Tax Credit. The Governor’s tax proposal raises about $800 million through largely the same mechanism and also focuses on broad income and property tax relief, including increased aid to local governments and property tax credits for farmers employing buffer strips.
The Senate tax proposal raises about $613 million, omitting a few corporate tax loophole closures and takes a hit-or-miss approach to tax relief.
There are areas of agreement as well. All three bills provide a level of increased tax relief for Social Security recipients. All bills propose conforming new, more generous federal rules for Section 179 expensing, which helps businesses and especially farmers in this tough economy.
The committee must compromise on one tax bill to send to the Governor before May 20. (H.F. 2125)
Health and Human Services Conference Committee gets to work
Health and Human Services Conference Committee putting in long hours to meet deadline
The conference committee for the health and human services budget bill has been meeting all week searching for consensus between budgets in the House and Senate that are hundreds of millions of dollars apart.
The committee has taken no formal action, focusing first on a detailed walk through of every article in the bill. Conferees have been discussing the differences in the bills and asking questions of state agency representatives on the budget and policy provisions in the bill. The articles discussed so far include provisions on prescription drugs, health care and insurance coverage, and public health. Republicans and DFL members have a significant amount of work ahead to agree on the large number of policy and budget items in the bill.
There remains significant disagreement in the two bills. The Commissioner of the Department of Human Services spoke at length about the proposals in the governor’s budget that would help people buying insurance in the individual market and provide better value in our public programs for prescription drugs and dental coverage.
The conference committee is expected to meet several more times in the coming days in order to reach agreement on a final bill. (HF 2414)
Legacy bill passes Senate
The Senate passed the legacy bill this week, appropriating a total of $629 million from the Outdoor Heritage fund, Clean Water Fund, Parks and Trails Fund, and Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The four funds were established by the “legacy amendment,” approved by Minnesota’s voters in 2008. The bill provides funds for hundreds of projects around the state, from prairie and forest habitat, to clean water activities, parks and trails, zoos and museums, arts and cultural heritage, and more.
The bill:
- Maintains the recommendations of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council for zero appropriations from the Outdoor Heritage Fund.
- Retains some Clean Water Fund appropriations as recommended by the Clean Water Council but reduces many others in order to continue funding soil and water conservation district administration grants from the Clean Water Fund.
- Maintains the 40:40:20 parks and trails distribution for spending from the Parks and Trails Fund, so 40% goes to the DNR for state parks and trails, 40% to the Metropolitan Council for metro parks and trails, and 20% to Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails.
- Keeps the current 47% distribution to the Minnesota State Arts Board from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
- Creates a new competitive grant process for children’s museums (except for those in St. Paul and Rochester, which receive appropriations), to be administered by the Minnesota Humanities Center.
- Establishes a new competitive “Community Identity and Heritage Grant Program,” to be operated by the Minnesota Humanities Center. (SF 836)
DWI omnibus bill passed off Senate floor
The Senate passed a noncontroversial DWI omnibus bill off the floor this week. The bill contains a number of changes to the state’s DWI laws, all of which aim to strike a balance in public safety, DWI prevention, and rehabilitation.
The bill passed on a unanimous vote and is awaiting further action from the House. (SF 753)
Senate moves to help those facing wage garnishment
The Senate passed a bill this week that allows those facing wage garnishment to protect more of their paychecks while still meeting debt obligations.
Wage garnishment is a part of the circle of debt – money is taken out of paychecks to pay off a debt, but that means the person responsible for the debt has less money to take care of other bills. Protecting a little more of a paycheck can make the difference between getting debt taken care of or falling deeper into a cycle of unpaid debt.
The bill passed off the Senate floor on a unanimous vote and is waiting for a final vote on the House. (SF 1706)
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