Greetings,
We’re now over a week from the end of the legislative session, but there’s still plenty to look back on. One of the large bills passed by the House and Senate would significantly help our area.
Despite passing the House and Senate with bipartisan support over a week ago, Governor Dayton hasn’t signed the supplemental budget bill into law. Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree this is a good bill to help Minnesotans. I hope the governor signs this bill and doesn’t continue to put politics before people.
The supplemental budget legislation, HF2749, passed on a vote of 95-39 in the House. Although the first year of the biennium is meant to set our budget, the second year is sometimes used to make needed adjustments. One of the main areas of improvement was through education provisions that will affect our district. By changing the Equity Revenue Adjustment, our local schools will see INCREASED funding for fiscal year 2017 as follows:
Albany
$28,238 ($15/pupil)
Holdingford
$16,695 ($15/pupil)
Sartell-St. Stephen
$61,817 ($15/pupil)
Sauk Rapids-Rice
$69,370 ($15/pupil)
St. Cloud
$168,350 ($15/pupil)
On top of these new dollars, St. Cloud schools will benefit from $430,000 for an early learning pilot grant, and should also receive funding from the Tony Sanneh Foundation Grant. Moreover, schools throughout the state can utilize $15 million in teacher shortage and training funding. Simply put: this bill puts more dollars into local schools.
Along with new education funding, the proposal includes a tax cut to benefit our military veterans. This provision excludes military retirement pay from state income taxes. Minnesota was one of only a few states to fully tax military retirement pay, and this plan provides relief to around 18,000 veterans throughout the state. After recently observing Memorial Day, we were reminded of how dangerous this profession can be, and we must do what we can to support veterans in Minnesota.
Other funding items for our area include $180,000 for the St. Cloud Human Rights office, $1 million for the Centers for Independent Living (including the facility in Sauk Rapids), and $200,000 to combat invasive species in Lake Koronis.
If you have any questions about this, or any other, bill, please contact my office. I’d love to hear your opinion on what transpired at the end of session.
Best,
Tim