ST. PAUL – Legislation that would increase transportation funding for Bemidji Area Schools and other districts is one step closer to reality, thanks in large part to behind-the-scenes work by Rep. Matt Bliss, R-Pennington.
A provision approved Friday in the House’s K-12 omnibus finance bill would provide Bemidji with approximately $340,000 more annually for transporting students, $11 million statewide. That appropriation may not fully erase the Bemidji’s transportation shortfall, but it would significantly alleviate the problem.
The fact Bliss, a freshman in the House, was able to help secure any additional bus funding at all in the House K-12 package is something of a feat.
A House bill to increase school transportation funding mainly for exurban and rural districts moved through the committee process with relative ease. It then was set aside for consideration to be part of the House’s omnibus K-12 finance package. One problem: The bus funding was nowhere to be found when the K-12 omnibus package was first made public.
“It was a little bit of a shock at first, when the increase for busing students was not in the bill,” Bliss said. “I talked with other House members. I met with the K-12 committee chair. I even tracked down House leadership. I basically got in the ear of anyone involved to say, ‘Hey, folks, we need this bus money back at home. This is a pretty big deal for us. We have to find a way to get this money in the bill, or there are going to be big problems up in Bemidji.’”
Apparently, Bliss’ message got through because the increased bus funding was added in time to be included in H.F. 890, the K-12 omnibus bill, as it passed the full House.
“I’m glad we were able to get this funding into the omnibus bill and I know the people in the Bemidji school district are happy to see progress,” Bliss said. “That said, we’re not doing any victory laps just yet. If one thing is clear, it’s that nothing in the Legislature is final until it’s final. Let’s just hold tight until the governor signs it into law.”
The House’s overall K-12 package provides a $1.1 billion funding increase to the K-12 budget for 2018-19. There is more than $300 million for early-learning programs. Another $22 million goes toward a new, targeted academic achievement initiative that funds before-school, after-school and summer programs to help low-income children who are falling behind their grade-level peers academically.
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