By: Charlie Kyte
CHARLIE ATTENDS LEGISLATIVE LUNCHEON:
Charlie had the opportunity to attend the annual legislative luncheon sponsored by the Lockridge, Grindal and Nauen Law Firm on Friday. Senate Finance Chair Dick Cohen and House Speaker Steve Sviggum were the speakers. Both represented the legislature, and their caucuses well.
** Senator Cohen: In spite of the rosy picture painted by some, the Minnesota State budget is still fragile. The looming Supreme Court decision on if the cigarettee fee/ tax is legal is a big issue. If this fee/tax is found unconstitutional, it will punch a $370 million hole in the budget. In addition, job growth in Minnesota is significantly trailing the national trend. It is jobs that produce both income and sales tax revenues.
**Speaker Sviggum: Legislators are often elected from platforms at the extreme edges of their politcal parties. However you must govern from the mainstream. He has felt plenty of push from both the conservatives in his own party as well as from the democrats. In this legislative session he is hoping to bring many issues to a vote. He would like to see 'up' or 'down' votes on stadiums, constitutional amendments, a bonding bill and other issues. He feels that legislators should own their votes and then go back to their districts and stand for election based on how they voted.
VOTES IN THE HOUSE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE:
There were several votes this week on Bill before the House Edcuation Committee.
** To require 70% of spending in classrooms.................passed on 15-14 vote
** Prohibit teacher negotiations during the school year....failed on 14-15 vote
** Strengthen the 'Structural Balance' Statute...............passed easily
** Allow an alternative teacher licensure process..........passed unanimously
GOVERNOR'S 'STATE OF THE STATE' SPEECH:
The Governor dedicated quite a bit of his speech on Thursday to education. He proposed a 10 school district pilot for K-12 AP/International Baccalaureate Programs, and a 5 High School pilots for complete HS Re-Design. He also proposed revising the standards to require Algeba and Chemistry for all students and encouraged the MDE, and schools to begin incorporating Mandarin Chinese into their World Language Programs.
We were less enthused abouot his proposal to specify 70% of spending in classrooms and to allow an urban voucher program for the poorest of children.
Overall the Governor's speech emphasized Minnesota's tradition of innovation and encouraged the continual redesign of government systems in this time of rapid change.
Introduction: This is Becky Fitch, who is working as an intern with MASA through the legislative session. She is a graduate student at the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.
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