Tag Archives: legislative update

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Library legislative update: 6/10/16

State CapitolThe following legislative updates were written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM). CMLE helps pay this lobbyist to serve the best interests of academic, K-12, public, and special libraries in Central MN (Latest information is at the top)

Received Friday, June 10, 2016 at 7:17 p.m.

Tax Bill Veto:  On Monday of this week, Governor Dayton pocket-vetoed the omnibus tax bill by taking no action on the bill before the 14 day deadline.  His veto was due to concerns about an error in a section of the bill relating to charitable gambling taxes that would have cost the state $101 million in lost revenue over the next three years.  The main item of interest to libraries in the tax bill is an increase in aid to cities and counties.

Special Session Outlook:  On Tuesday, Governor Dayton met with three of the four legislative caucus leaders (Senator Bakk, Speaker Daudt and Rep. Thissen; Senator Hann chose not to attend) to discuss a possible special session to pass a bonding bill, a corrected tax bill and some additional budget items that the governor would like to see enacted.  The meeting was brief and nothing was resolved.  Reportedly they plan to meet again sometime in the middle of next week.

Since then Governor Dayton has been traveling across the state to drum up public support for his priorities for a special session.  High on the governor’s list is a transportation funding package that includes transit in the metro area, which is very controversial with House Republicans.

Bonding Bill:  As I have previously reported, House and Senate negotiators agreed on a $1.1 billion bonding bill on the last day of session.  The bill passed the House, but time ran out before it could pass the Senate.  Later it was discovered that there were a number of projects that appeared on the spreadsheet, but were not actually included in the bill (this was not the case for any library projects).

Governor Dayton and legislative leaders are eager to pass a bonding bill during a special session, but reaching agreement will not be easy.  Speaker Daudt has said that the House will revert to its original position of a $600 million bonding bill (even though they never actually brought a bill of that size to the House floor), while Governor Dayton has demanded the inclusion of $183 million for projects that were left out of the bill agreed to by the conference committee.

Bonding Conference Committee Hearing:  On Tuesday, June 14 the bonding bill conference committee will meet from 1-4pmin room 10 of the State Office Building.  The purpose of the hearing is to review the conference committee agreement and take public testimony.  I expect the discussion to focus on the more controversial projects and those that were included on the spreadsheet but left out of the bill.  We will keep you posted.

Elaine Keefe

Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 255
St. Paul, MN 55103
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

 

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/oddkzbj, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

End of session legislative updates

State CapitolThe following legislative updates were written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM). CMLE helps pay for lobbyist services in order to serve the best interests of academic, K-12, public, and special libraries in Central MN. (Latest information is at the top of this post)

Received Monday, May 23, 2016 at 3:30 p.m.

The 2016 legislative session has ended with very mixed results.  Last night the Legislature passed the omnibus tax bill and the omnibus supplemental budget bill.  However, as noted in my previous message, the Legislature failed to pass the bonding bill before the midnight deadline for passing bills.

Governor Dayton held a press conference a few minutes ago and indicated he has not yet decided whether to call a special session.  He said that he and legislative leaders need time to get some rest and assess the situation.

Bonding Bill:  The bonding conference committee reached agreement on a $1.135 billion bill on Sunday evening, just a few hours before the midnight deadline for passing bills.  The bill included $2 million for Library Construction Grants and $820,000 for the library at the Minnesota state Career and Technical College in Wadena. It did not include funding for the new East Central Regional Library headquarters/Cambridge Library, the Bagley Library or the Eastside Freedom Library.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 91-39.  It was amended in the Senate to raise the limit on how much the Metropolitan Council could contribute to a rail project (clearly aimed at the Southwest Light Rail Transit line) before passing by a vote of 53-12.  Because the bill had been amended on the Senate floor, it had to go back to the House for a final vote, but before that happened the House adjourned.  It was messy and chaotic and House and Senate leaders are blaming each other for the failure of the bonding bill to make it across the finish line.

Supplemental Budget Bill:  The budget bill spends a total of $182 million.  It includes $35 million for Border to Border Broadband Grants and  $500,000 for grants of up to $50,000 to K-12 schools for broadband Wi-Fi Hotspots.  It does not include an increase in total operating capital and does not provide any funding for after school programs.

Omnibus Tax Bill:  The tax bill increases aid to cities by $20 million per year and increases aid to counties by $10 million per year.

Legacy Bill:  The Legacy bill dealt mainly with appropriations for the Outdoor Heritage Fund, for which appropriations are made annually rather than for the biennium.  However, we were keeping an eye on one piece of language designed to reinforce the idea that Legacy funds are meant to supplement, not supplant, previous funding.  The original language in the House bill was rather awkward, as a couple of you pointed out to me.  The final version included in the bill is much more clear.  It states:

“Any state agency or organization requesting a direct appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund must inform the house of representatives and senate committees having jurisdiction over the arts and cultural heritage fund, at the time the request for funding is made, whether the request is supplanting or is a substitution for any previous funding that was not from a legacy fund and was used for the same purpose.”

Received Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 5:29 p.m.

End of Session Negotiations:  There is still no agreement between legislative leaders and Governor Dayton on targets for the supplemental budget, taxes and transportation.  It remains to be seen whether they will reach an agreement in time to get the bills passed before the end of the session.  Session must end by midnight on Monday, but the Legislature cannot pass bills on the day of adjournment.  This means that bills must be passed by midnight on Sunday night.

Bonding Bill:  Today the House bonding bill failed on the House floor.  A 3/5 supermajority is required to pass a bonding bill, which means 81 votes are required to pass the House.  The bill only received 69 votes.  All but two DFLers voted against the bill, while all but 5 Republicans voted for the bill.  DFLers complained that the bill was too small and that projects in DFL districts had been passed over in favor of projects in Republican districts.

However, a conference committee has been appointed for HF 748, a bill from last year that will be used as a vehicle for a bonding bill.  This is a highly unusual twist in the legislative process.

The Senate conferees are Senator LeRoy Stumpf (DFL – Plummer), Senator Katie Sieben (DFL – Cottage Grove), Senator Jeff Hayden (DFL – Minneapolis), Senator David Tomassoni (DFL – Chisholm) and Senator Carla Nelson (R – Rochester).

The House conferees are Rep. Paul Torkelson (R – Hanska), Rep. Tony Albright (R – Prior Lake), Rep. Chris Swedzinski (R – Ghent), Rep. Bob Vogel (R- Elko New Market) and Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL – St. Paul).

According to a press release issued by the Senate DFL Caucus this afternoon, the conference committee will consider portions of the House, Senate and Governor’s bonding proposals.  No meetings have been scheduled for the conference committee as of this writing.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 255
St. Paul, MN 55103
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/oddkzbj, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MN Library Legislative Update: 3/15/16

Minnesota Capitol domeThe following legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM).  CMLE helps pay  this lobbyist to serve the best interests of academic, K-12, public, and special libraries in Central MN. You’re welcome!

Governor’s Budget:  Governor Dayton released his supplemental budget proposal today.  He is proposing to spend a total of $698 million (including $117 million for tax cuts).  Of that spending, $411 million is one-time spending and $287 million is ongoing spending.  The governor proposes to leave $200 million on the bottom line to guard against a future economic downturn.  This is consistent with his statement last week in his State of the State address that his highest priority was protecting the fiscal stability of the state.  Here are items of interest in the proposed budget:

  • $100 million for Border to Border Broadband grants.  Earlier in the year Governor Dayton had announced that he would propose $100 million for broadband, but after the February forecast projected a smaller surplus, there was speculation that this amount might go down.  Happily, this was not the case.  This is a one-time appropriation.
  • $21.5 million for a one-time increase in Local Government Aid to cities.
  • $25 million for a one-time increase in County Program Aid.
  • $25 million for a pre-kindergarten program offered through public schools.  The funding would be targeted to high-poverty areas and those with a lack of three and four star Parent Aware rated child care programs.  This funding would increase to $40 million in FY 18 and $60 million in FY 19.

A detailed description of each item in Governor Dayton’s proposal can be found here: http://mn.gov/mmb/images/16-17-supplemental-agency-item.pdf

Bills of Interest:  Since the Legislature convened one week ago, legislators have introduced 546 bills in the Senate and 747 bills in the House.  Here are some bills of interest to MLA and ITEM:

HF 2381 (Baker) Provides $35 million for border to border broadband grants.  The bill will be heard in the House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Policy Committee this Thursday.

HF 2385 (Lesch)/ SF 2703 (Dibble)  Prohibits employers from requiring applicants or employees to divulge their username or password to any personal social media account.

HF 2386 (Lesch)/ SF 2705 (Chamberlain)  Prohibits educational institutions from requiring students or prospective students to divulge their username or password to any personal social media account.

HF 2537 (Youakim)/ SF 2510 (Kent)  Establishes the right of student journalists to determine the content of school newspapers and student-led publications, unless the content is profane, harassing or intimidating.

HF 2597 (Green)  Repeals the requirement that 47% of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund must be allocated to the State Arts Board.

HF 2645 (B. Johnson)/ SF 2296 (Nienow) Provides $2,414,000 to the city of Cambridge to build a new public library and headquarters for the East Central Regional Library.

HF 2898 (Lucero)  Protecting student data privacy on 1:1 devices issued by an educational institution.

HF 2900 (Lucero)  Protecting student privacy on personal electronic devices.

HF 2939 (C. Johnson)/ SF 2560 (Sheran) Provides funding for the Travers des Sioux Library Cooperative to hire licensed school media specialists to provide services to schools that do not have licensed school media specialists.  This was initiated by a former employee of TDS, and is not supported by the TDS Board.  I do not expect this bill to advance.

HF 3069 (Peterson) / SF 2462 (Carlson)  Exempts information systems software from the requirement that schools use a competitive bidding process for purchases.

SF 2294 (Dahms) Provides $30 million in bond proceeds for border to border broadband grants.

SF 2447 (Schmit)  Provides $100 million from the general fund for border to border broadband grants.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 255
St. Paul, MN 55103
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/olvp485, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

2015 Legislative Recap

State CapitolFor your convenience, here is a recap of the last legislative session written by Elaine Keefe, our MLA/MEMO lobbyist representing our library and school media issues at the State Capitol.

Also, the FINAL 2015 LMC Law Summaries have been finalized with post-special session information and are available online: Download the Bookmarked PDF here: www.lmc.org/lawsummaries2015

On July 7, 2015 at 9:38 p.m., Elaine Keefe writes…..

Below is a summary of 2015 legislative action (and inaction) affecting libraries.  Most of this information has appeared in previous reports.

State Budget Overview:  Despite having a nearly $1.9 billion budget surplus, Governor Dayton and legislative leaders were unable to reach a comprehensive budget agreement during the regular legislative session.  After the session ended on May 18, Governor Dayton vetoed three major budget bills — the E-12 Education bill, the Agriculture and Environment bill and the Jobs and Economic Development bill.  Legislators ran out of time and failed to pass the Legacy bill, the bonding bill and the Revisor’s bill (a technical corrections bill).  After intense negotiations conducted largely between Governor Dayton and Speaker Daudt, an agreement was reached to hold a one-day special session to pass new versions of the three budget bills that were vetoed, along with the other three major bills for which time ran out. The special session was held on June 12.  A revolt among Senate DFLers who were opposed to controversial provisions in the Agriculture and Environment bill threatened to derail the special session, but in the end all six bills were passed and Governor Dayton immediately signed them into law.

Library Appropriations in the E-12 Budget:  Current funding levels were maintained for Regional Library Basic System Support (RLBSS), Regional Library Telecommunications Aid (RLTA), Multi-types, the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) and Telecommunications Equity Aid (TEA).  The MLA/ITEM platform called for increases in RLBSS, RLTA, Multi-type funding and TEA.  We had excellent hearings on each of these requests in both the House Education Finance Committee and the Senate E-12 Budget Division, but the low targets set for education in both bodies ($157 million in the House and $365 million in the Senate) made it extremely difficult to get funding increases.  The Senate E-12 education bill did include an increase in RLBSS of $1.5 million per year along with a formula change that increased the base portion and reduced the ANTC  portion.  The Senate bill also included an increase in funding for TEA of $1.5 million per year for the 16-17 biennium only.  Neither of these increases survived the conference committee.  The general education formula and early learning were the top priorities for legislators and the governor, and almost all of the new funding ultimately went to those two areas.

School Technology:  The Senate E-12 education bill included a provision requiring school districts to reserve future increases in revenue from the School Endowment Fund for technology and telecommunications infrastructure, programs and training.  The provision did not survive the conference committee.

After School Funding:  The MLA/ITEM platform endorsed funding for high quality after school programs.  The Senate E-12 education bill provided $500,000 per year for after school programs in the 16-17 biennium only, but this funding did not survive the conference committee.

General Education Formula:  The final E-12 education bill increases the general education formula by 2% in each of the next two years.  The formula allowance is going from $5,831 per pupil to $5,948 in FY 2016 and to $6,067 in FY 2017.  Just over 2/3 of the new spending in E-12 education went to pay for this increase.

RLTA Language:  The final E-12 education bill included language proposed by MDE and supported by MLA that more closely aligns RLTA with the federal e-rate program.

School Technology  Plans:  The final E-12 education bill repealed a requirement that school districts have a technology plan on file with MDE in order to qualify for TEA.  This was proposed by MDE.

1:1 Device Guidelines:  The final E-12 education bill requires MDE to research existing 1:1 device programs in Minnesota and across the country to determine best practices and to issue guidelines no later than February 15, 2016 and submit a report to the Legislature.

Data Privacy:  The final E-12 education bill also includes a provision conforming Minnesota’s law governing student records to conform to recent changes in federal law.  The St. Paul Public Schools initiated this bill to allow them to share student addresses with the St. Paul Public Library so that every student can be issued a public library card at school.  Without this legislation the school district would only be able to share student addresses with the public library if the school district classified the addresses as public information.

Legacy Funding for Regional Public Libraries:  Regional public libraries will receive $2.2 million in legacy funding in each of the next two years.  This is less than the $3 million per year that was allocated for the FY 14-15 biennium.  Legislators in both bodies were adamant that no one had a base budget for Legacy funds, and therefore it was not appropriate to characterize it as a cut or even to complain about receiving less than in the previous biennium.  The House bill provided $1.5 million for FY 16 and $2.5 million in FY 17, while the Senate bill provided $2.95 million each year.  The initial version of the bill that was presented to the public as the conference committee agreement included the House level of funding for regional public libraries.  However, an amendment was made at the last minute to add $400,000 over the biennium.  Thank you to all of you who contacted the conferees.  I do believe you made a difference.

Legacy Funding for the Minnesota Digital Library:  The Minnesota Digital Library will receive $300,000 per year, which is the same level of funding provided over the last two years.  As in the past, the funding is appropriated to the Minnesota Historical Society with a directive to cooperate with Minitex and jointly share the appropriation.

Higher Education:  Funding for Minitex and MnLink will remain at the current level.   MnSCU received an increase of $100 million for tuition relief and the University of Minnesota received an increase of $52 million, which includes $30 million for the medical school and $22 million for tuition relief.   The Minnesota Electronic Health Library was not funded.

Border to Border Broadband Grants:   The final Jobs and Economic Development bill included $10, 838,000 for broadband grants.  This is in contrast to the $20 million provided in the 2014 session and the $30 million proposed by Governor Dayton in his budget.

Seed Library:  Inspired by the seed library at the Duluth Public Library, the final agriculture policy bill included an exemption from seed regulations for “interpersonal sharing of seed for home, educational, charitable or personal non-commercial use.” 

Data Practices Training for Local Government:  The League of Minnesota Cities initiated a bill to provide funding so that the Department of Administration could provide training to local government officials on complying with the Minnesota Data Practices Act. The Senate included $100,000 for this in its State Government Finance bill, but the House provided no funding.  Like so many other things that were funded in the Senate but not the House, this did not survive the conference committee.

Library Construction Grants:  Governor Dayton proposed an unusually large bonding bill for an odd-numbered year, and it included $2 million for Library Construction Grants.  This is the first time that a governor has included funding for this program in his capital budget.  In the end, the governor and legislators agreed on a far more modest bonding bill consisting mainly of urgent items.  In preparation for 2016, we had a bill introduced to provide $10 million for Library Construction Grants (SF 2179/ HF 2353).  Our chief authors are Senator Kent Eken (DFL – Twin Valley) and Rep. Jeff Howe (R – Cold Spring).

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
(office)651-293-0229
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/oddkzbj, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MN Library Legislative Update

Capital SunsetThe following legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM).

Received Monday, March 23, 2015 at 12:04 pm

House Legacy Hearing Today at 12:30pm:  Today Ann Hutton and Melinda Ludwiczak will present our request for Legacy funding for the regional public library systems to be increased to $4.25 million per year.  Please note that the time of the hearing is 12:30pm rather than the usual 12:45pm start time.  The hearing is in the Basement Hearing Room of the State Office Building.

Regional Public Library and Multi-type Funding Bill:  SF 832, our bill increasing Regional Library Basic System Support (RLBSS) by $5 million per year and increasing funding for the Multi-types by $1.3 million per year was heard this morning in the Senate E-12 Budget Division.  The bill was added to this morning’s agenda on Friday afternoon, so we had to scramble to line up witnesses and provide handouts to the committee staff by the close of business on Friday.  Barb Misselt testified on the RLBSS increase and Ann Walker Smalley testified on the multitype increase.  Many thanks to both of them for agreeing to testify on such short notice. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus E-12 budget bill.

RLBSS Formula Change Bill:  SF 1675, the bill changing the RLBSS distribution formula and increasing RLBSS by $5 million per year, was also heard this morning in the Senate E-12 Budget Division.  Ann Hutton testified in support of the bill.  It was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus E-12 budget bill.

Omnibus Education Policy Bill (HF 1591/SF 1495): The House Education Innovation Policy Committee passed its version of the omnibus education policy bill on Thursday and referred it to the House Education Finance Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard tomorrow.  The Senate Education Committee passed its version of the omnibus education policy bill on Friday.  The bill includes the language from SF 337 conforming Minnesota law to federal law on the privacy of student educational records.  This was initiated by the St. Paul Schools to enable them to share student addresses with the St. Paul Public Library for the purpose of issuing public library cards to students.

Seed Library: The House omnibus agriculture policy bill, HF 1544, includes a provision exempting “interpersonal sharing of seed for home, educational, charitable or personal non-commercial use” from seed laws.  This will allow the Duluth Public Library to continue to operate its seed library.  The bill passed out of the House Agriculture Policy Committee last week. The Senate version of the bill will be taken up in committee this week.  It is expected to contain a similar provision.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
(office)651-293-0229
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/p4m2ool, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0