Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from St. Paul, where this week we had our first somewhat lengthy floor session to examine an omnibus bill related to education. Maybe the most noteworthy provisions relate to school safety on a couple of different fronts, from both mental health aspects to making critical facility security upgrades. Highlights of the bill as it passed the House include:
- Increased Safe Schools revenue, including a floor level of funding for small schools – to support resource officers, student support personnel, and other school security programs.
- Expanded use of Long-Term Facility Maintenance revenue for security projects at school buildings, including emergency communications systems
- School-linked mental health programming.
- Physical security audit grants to provide state assistance to review facility security and crisis management policies.
- Suicide prevention training for teachers to help educators learn how to engage and assist students experiencing mental distress.
- School-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers, and staff.
The House tax bill also has been in the news as we look to adapt to massive federal tax reform that was recently enacted and also provide tax relief where possible. The House plan provides the first income tax rate cut in nearly 20 years, simplifies our state tax code and also holds as many Minnesotans harmless as possible in adjusting to the federal changes. Overall, more than 2.1 million Minnesota filers will benefit from a tax cut in tax year 2018, including a provision to reduce the second tier income tax rate from 7.05 percent to 6.75 percent by tax year 2020. Look for more on the tax bill as it comes to the floor in coming days and as we work to find agreement with the governor and the Senate. Also, I touched on this subject in a column I submitted to area newspapers this week and you can click here for that.
Nitrates remain a topic of discussion as the Minnesota Department of Agriculture released the text of the governor's proposed nitrate rule earlier than previously scheduled. That will allow time to gather public input and conduct a transparent process during the remaining weeks the Legislature is in session. I appreciate that action by the department and we are in the process of reviewing the rule. There are numerous questions that need to be answered, including language that has been added regarding manure management and the exclusion of soybean ground. I’ll circle back to this after more is learned about the details. In the meantime, the House continues working on a bill which would require legislative approval of mandatory rules, or “water resource protection requirements,” for nitrogen fertilizers before they may be adopted.
On a final note, the next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday. This is a way we can safely dispose of leftover medication that may be in our homes. Click here for more on this subject or click here for information regarding drop-off site locations. This is a great program and I hope you’ll spread the word.
Hope you have a nice weekend and look for more news from St. Paul soon as we enter the final three full weeks of the 2018 session.
Sincerely,
Paul