A report to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA)on the work of the 2007 Minnesota Legislature.
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By: Charlie Kyte
K-12 Education spending targets imminent:
We believe that we will see the K-12 spending target within the next few days. The bigger question is if it will be a target agreed to by the Governor or if it will just be a House-Senate target. If it is the later, we will put a Bill together and it will probably be vetoed quickly. Then we will go back to the ‘drawing board’.
End game strategies:
Both the Legislative majority and the Governor are maneuvering around each other right now. It seems like there strategies are somewhat as follows:
Legislature: Hold the major spending Bills and the Tax Bill until last. Send other Bills to the Governor now in the hope of cornering the Governor into needing a tax increase to fund the final Bills.
Governor: Just keep vetoing almost all the Bills now and keep all options for setting spending priorities on the table until the final moments of the legislative session.
Remember that the Governor was a leadership legislator in the past and knows how to maneuver in situations like this. But Speaker Kelliher and Senator Pogemiller are not amateurs either.
MASA Priorities….remind your legislators:
1) A fair distribution of funding
2) Fund the pro-ration of Special Education
3) Fund the basic formulas at 3%
Then if there is money available phase in early childhood and all day kindergarten as well as other new initiatives.
Statewide Health Insurance:
The Statewide Health Insurance Bill is in the House Finance Committee as this report is being posted and is expected to pass. The Bill will then go to the House Floor next Tuesday. We hear the republicans already have 34 amendments ready and there will be quite a few from the democrats as well.
Education Minnesota wants what they call ‘a clean Bill’ without amendments. The most ominous amendment from their point of view (and a wise one from our viewpoint) is called the Commerce Department amendment. It requires a regulatory over site of this large insurance pool.
Once the House passes the Bill, it goes to a House-Senate Conference Committee and then to the Governor for a signature or a veto.
Next report: We plan to post another report this Friday.
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