Dear Neighbors,
Monday marked the end of the 2015 legislative session. The House and Senate compromised on a $41.5 billion budget that meets many of the needs and priorities of Greater Minnesota.
First, nursing home funding is a critical issue in our district, and our budget invests $138 million into our care centers, increasing reimbursement rates and offering a long-term solution for funding. Not only will this improve the quality of care and quality of life for Minnesota's aging adults, but it will also increase wages for the hardworking caregivers in this profession. Serving on the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee this session, I am appreciative that one of the top House legislative priorities ended up in the final negotiated budget.
Next, for Greater Minnesota schools, we passed a bipartisan education budget bill that invests an additional $400 million into our schools, 72 percent of which goes directly onto the per pupil formula. What's more, for our littlest learners, there is $60 million for early learning scholarships and school readiness aid which will target low income and at-risk kids. Finally, for our rural communities, additional maintenance facility funding will help our schools pay for much-needed repairs to help maintain our buildings. This is great news for our school districts and local taxpayers.
On the House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Committee this session, attention was paid to the workforce housing shortage in our communities. In the final jobs omnibus bill, there is an additional $4 million investment for market-rate workforce housing which will help attract more qualified workers to our community and fill vacant job openings. Furthermore, $900,000 in job training grants that I advanced this session were also in the bill which will help allow employers to train their workers and give businesses flexibility to fill open job positions more quickly. Finally, additional investments in a Greater Minnesota infrastructure program will help create new jobs in our community and help businesses grow.
For our farmers and agriculture industry, there is vital funding to help fight and prevent the spread of avian flu, a disease which has devastated our poultry industry. There is also additional funding for special unemployment assistance for people who have lost their jobs due to avian flu. Moreover, agriculture loan programs, beginner farmer loans and additional monies for wolf and elk depredation are in the agriculture and environment omnibus bill as well.
This session, the House and Senate passed a small transportation bill which includes $12.5 million for road repairs for small cities with populations under 5,000 as well as an additional $5 million for Greater Minnesota transit. While it's unfortunate that we didn’t pass a larger, long-term road and bridge package like Republicans had hoped, there is still additional money to do something next year. Senate Democrats refused to pass a transportation package or a tax relief bill in 2015 without a gas tax increase which would have hurt families and folks living on fixed incomes in our district. There was overwhelming opposition to a gas tax increase in our community, and I will continue to oppose this regressive new tax.
Finally, many of you may have heard that the governor plans to veto our education bill and send us into a special session over his demands for universal pre-k. He did not garner the support for his plan during the regular session and it was not passed in either the DFL-led Senate or the GOP-led House. I am proud of the bipartisan compromise budget we accomplished this session, and I believe it will do great things for the people and priorities of Northwest Minnesota.
I will keep you updated on this as news becomes available.
If I can ever assist you or your family on a matter of state government, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Deb
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