New state flag, maintenance of existing services part of omnibus state government package

Lots of kudos were shared with a House committee Tuesday morning.

State Auditor Julie Blaha and representatives from a few state agencies spoke of support of a proposal that would see funding increases, largely to maintain current services.

Checking it at nearly $1.51 billion for the 2024-25 biennium, the omnibus state and local government finance bill includes a net $400 million in new General Fund spending.

As amended, HF1830, also contains several policy changes designed to improve government operations in Minnesota. Rep. Ginny Klevorn (DFL-Plymouth) is the sponsor.

She chairs the House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee that plans to take more public testimony, debate amendments and vote on the bill Thursday, a week after a policy bill was approved by the committee largely along party lines. Klevorn said the current plan is for the bills to continue moving separately.

[MORE: View the finance bill change items, more detailed spreadsheet]

Among those offering appreciation was Jon Eichten, deputy commissioner at Minnesota IT Services.

“Thank you for recognizing the risk and the service delivery constraints imposed by aging legacy technology and taking a major step forward this session via this budget package toward addressing these risks and positioning state technology to better meet the expectations of Minnesotans in the digital age,” he said.

In his area, the bill calls for $140.8 million in new spending, much of it a one-time expense. That includes $45 million to modernize targeted applications to improve user experiences with digital services provided by state agencies, almost $33.6 million for executive branch cloud transformation, $32.8 million for cybersecurity enhancements, and $1.2 million to support accessible government in Minnesota.

Other spending increases in the bill include:

• $72.44 million for the Department of Administration across 23 areas, including $20 million “to facilitate space consolidation and the transition to a hybrid work environment”;
• $47.18 million for the Legislative Coordinating Commission, which includes the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Reference Library and Legislative Budget Office;
• $41.59 million to the Department of Revenue;
• $37.82 million for the Office of the Attorney General, including a $25.35 million operating adjustment;
• $15.74 million for House operations, including a $3,500 member salary increase — or 7.25% — based on a Legislative Salary Council report, a $20 retroactive per diem increase from $66 to $86 to match the Senate, and staff salary increases; 
• $11.23 million for the governor’s office,
• $9.8 million for Senate operations;
• $5.87 million for the state auditor’s office;
• $5.54 million to the Minnesota Humanities Center, of which $5 million would be onetime funds for civility and cultural awareness programs and grants; and
• $2.34 million for the Office of the Secretary of State.

Based off HF2408, the bill calls for $1 million for a geophysical study and hazard assessment of the St. Anthony Falls area and cutoff wall, whose ownership is uncertain.

Constructed nearly 150 years ago to stabilize the falls, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been requested to inspect the infrastructure to ensure its safety. If the wall were to fail, supporters, including Friends of the Mississippi River, note “upstream water levels could drop too low to supply crucial water supply intakes that serve Minneapolis, St. Paul and several suburbs. The water supply for 1 million Twin Cities residents, hospitals, schools, the airport and even fire hydrants could dry up within a few days.”

State and local government policy

A plethora of policy with price tags is included in the proposal, of which one of the more noticeable changes would come with just a $45,000 cost.

Those dollars would be used to fund a State Emblems Redesign Commission to develop and adopt a new design for the official state flag and the official state seal no later than Jan. 1, 2024. Per the bill, “The designs must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities. Symbols, emblems, or likenesses that represent only a single community or person, regardless of whether real or stylized, may not be included in a design.”

Other proposed policy/funding in the bill includes:

• $22 million to help counties fund the perpetuation of public land survey monuments;
• a structure would be created so Minnesota IT Services could allocate local government cybersecurity grants, $5.7 million of which is called for in the bill;
• $5 million in fiscal year 2024 to implement an updated Capitol Mall Design Framework, with $1 million in fiscal year 2023 for the framework to be updated;
• $2.47 million to establish an Office of Enterprise Translations to “provide translation services for written material for executive agencies; create and maintain language-specific landing webpages in Spanish, Hmong, and Somali with links to translated materials at state agency websites;  and serve as a resource to executive agencies in areas such as best practices and standards for the translation of written materials”;
• $650,000 for the Healthy Eating, Here at Home program and an expansion where the “market bucks” can be used;
• $252,000 in onetime funds to create a Legislative Task Force on Aging whose duties would include reviewing and developing state resources for an aging demographic; and
• $165,000 for an Infrastructure Resilience Advisory Task Force to evaluate issues related to coordination, sustainability, resiliency, and federal funding on state, local, and private infrastructure in the state.

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What’s in the bill?

The following are selected bills that have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus state government finance bill:

• HF274 (Freiberg)
• HF979 (Klevorn)
• HF1231 (Freiberg)
• HF1830 (Klevorn)
• HF2053 (Bahner)
• HF2405 (Koegel)
• HF2408 (Jordan)
• HF2427 (Klevorn)
• HF2517 (Huot)
• HF2770 (Hansen)
• HF2940 (Klevorn)
• HF3023 (Klevorn)