 Dear Neighbor, We are now in the final week of the 2025 legislative session with adjournment scheduled for May 19. This year’s biggest responsibility is setting a new two-year state budget. Significant work remains on that subject and time is of the essence, especially after House Democrats did not show up for work the first 23 days of session, instead staying home and collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck. At this point (noon on Tuesday, May 13th), with no joint targets between the House and Senate, it feels like the Democrats are forcing a special session. The biggest hill they are willing to die on is funding Medicaid health insurance for those who are here illegally. Budget bills Most of the House’s omnibus finance bills have passed off the House floor and are currently in Conference Committees working out the differences with the Senate bills. This year’s K-12 budget bill, costing $25.76 billion, remains in limbo over a Democrat provision mandating all schools provide unemployment insurance for hourly workers. The original plan was to cover the costs with temporary state funding for a year or so, then leave districts to figure it out on their own. But the former Democrat trifecta turned an $18 billion surplus into a $6 billion shortfall and schools are saddled with a cost they can’t afford. Resolution on this issue is crucial to passing a budget bill and, for that to happen, the former majority will need to get on board with modifications to their unemployment insurance mandate. Sen. Heintzeman sworn into office  Republican Keri Heintzeman took the oath of office on May 6, as she was sworn into the Minnesota Senate. Her husband, Josh, is a member of the House of Representatives. This makes two married couples now serving in the legislature, with the Heintzemans joining my husband, Sen. Jason Rarick, and me in this regard. Higher Education As Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, I have been busy working with a conference committee that is seeking to resolve differences in omnibus bills approved by both the House and the Senate to fund this area of the state biennial budget. We started this process with walkthroughs of the House and Senate language and spreadsheets of each omnibus bill HF2431 and its Senate companion. This included identifying a long list of “same and similar” items in the policy portion of the bill. That allows us to establish where there is common ground and then we can move on to ironing out our differences. The House’s bipartisan bill is a $3.97 billion which holds that part of the state’s budget flat the next four years. It makes policy changes and cuts to significantly close a $239 million State Grant shortfall. This greatly reduces the gap – $62 million hole remains – without immediately impacting students. Meanwhile, the Senate bill spends $4.1 billion. During the 2026-27 biennium, the House and Senate both provide $1.76 billion to the Minnesota State system, very similar amounts to the University of Minnesota ($1.5 billion to $1.48 billion) and $0 to the Mayo Foundation. We will continue working through this bill as we await an official spending total for our bill – aka the “target” – to fit within the state’s global two-year fiscal plan. Congressman Emmer  It was nice catching up with Congressman Tom Emmer at the Capitol in St. Paul on Monday. You may remember Congressman Emmer served as a Minnesota State Representative from 2005-2011 before eventually making his way to Washington, D.C. Non-public education The Governor and Senate Democrats want to eliminate nonpublic pupil aids for school bus rides, textbooks, and pupil health. This would be a devastating blow to non-public schools, especially for those that serve mostly low-income areas. These basic supports for the well-being and safety of the taxpaying families who choose nonpublic schools for their children have been in place for 55 years. Both federal and state courts at the highest levels have upheld these aids as constitutional and proper. When you consider that the “savings” is less than one-half of 1 percent of the education budget, and there is increased funding in other school programs, it is clear that this is not about balancing the budget. This is a carefully targeted assault on tens of thousands of students and their parents. Another important point is that the vast majority of the funding goes to the public schools to cover the costs of the services they provide. This is a cut that will further hurt the public schools as well. Meanwhile, the House education budget does not cut this funding for children. It is particularly harmful to families with the least amount of income to make up for the lost state aid. Many parents just do not have the resources to provide their own transportation, and they do not have the funds necessary to cover a large tuition increase resulting from the loss of state support. Here’s the kicker: According to data from non-partisan state officials, if only a small percentage of nonpublic school students must leave their non-public schools and enroll in public schools, any savings from eliminating existing nonpublic pupil aids will be lost. If just 5,400 nonpublic students out of a total of 73,143 (approximately 7.4 percent) are forced to leave their schools and enroll in public schools, there will be no savings in the 2025-26 school year. And if 10 percent of the students, shift, the state will actually experience a shortfall of millions of dollars. This approach by the governor and Senate Democrats defies common sense. I will continue to support our non-public schools on this issue. Please Contact MeAs always, if you need assistance on an issue pertaining to state government or have concerns or ideas about legislation, my office is available to you. You can e-mail at rep.marion.rarick@house.mn.gov or call my office at 651-296-5063. You can also write a letter to me. My office address at the 2nd Floor Centennial Office Building, 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55155. Sincerely, |