Tag Archives: legislature

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 Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 3:50 pm

House Education Finance Hearing: On Thursday, February 19, the House Education Finance committee heard two bills initiated by MLA/ITEM. Both bills were well-received by the committee.

The first bill to be heard was HF 583, authored by Rep. Ron Kresha (R – Little Falls), which increases funding for Telecommunications Equity Aid (TEA) and Regional Library Telecommunications Aid (RLTA). Mary Mehsikomer of TIES (and president of ITEM) and Marc Johnson of ECMECC testified in support of the increase for TEA, and did an outstanding job. I testified in support of the increase for RLTA. Denise Dittrich, lobbyist for the Minnesota School Boards Association, also testified in favor of the bill. HF 583 was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus education finance bill.

The second bill to be heard was HF 569, authored by Rep. Bud Nornes (R – Fergus Falls), which increases funding for RLBSS and the Multi-types. I testified briefly, followed by more extensive testimony by Ann Hutton of SELCO in support of the RLBSS increase and Kathy Enger of NLLN in support of the funding increase for the Multi-types. Both did an excellent job. HF 569 was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus education finance bill.

Bill Introductions: Since my last update, the following bills of interest have been introduced:

SF 832, a bill increasing RLBSS and Multi-type funding, was introduced by Senator Tom Saxhaug (DFL – Grand Rapids). Co-authors are Senator Chuck Wiger (DFL – Maplewood), Senator Vicky Jensen (DFL Owatonna), Senator LeRoy Stumpf (DFL – Plummer) and Senator Bill Weber (R – Luverne). This bill is the companion to HF 569, referenced above.

SF 853, a bill appropriating $100,000 per year to the department of Administration so that the Information Policy and Analysis Division (IPAD) can provide training and technical assistance the local units of government on implementing data privacy laws, was introduced by Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL – Minneapolis).

Rep. Drew Christensen (R – Burnsville) introduced the companion bills to several bills on school technology that were introduced early in the session by Senator Chuck Wiger (DFL – Maplewood). See my February 3 update for detailed descriptions. The bills introduced by Rep. Christensen include:

HF 856 (companion to SF 18) establishes special technology revenue, which can be used for the purchase or lease of telecommunications equipment, computers and related hardware and software, assistive technology and new and replacement library media resources or technology.

HF 854 (companion to SF 45) increases total operating capital and reserves the increase for the same purposes as those listed in HF 856 as well as for the purchase of electronic textbooks.

HF 838 (companion to SF 78) increases TEA funding to $9.75 million per year.

February Forecast: The next state economic forecast will be released on Friday, February 27. It is widely anticipated that the new forecast will project that the state’s budget surplus will be larger than the $1 billion surplus that was projected in December. Soon after the new forecast is released, Governor Dayton is expected to release his supplemental budget recommendations.

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

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Minnesota Budget Priorities are Shaping Up

dollarsIt is a great situation to have a budget surplus, but the ideas about how to solve it can be quite different. A picture is worth a thousand words when the Governor, the House, and the Senate are trying to iron out differences on budget priorities. The folks at Minnesota Budget Bites have done a fantastic job of sharing the differences in the following easy graphic. Read the full blog post at:  http://tinyurl.com/mbebruf

 

table leg prioritiesApril 22, 2014 blog post graphic from Minnesota Budget Bites.

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MN Library Legislative Update

MNStateCapitol**This legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) /MEMO** 

Subject:  Governor’s Capital Budget Recommendations, Wednesday, 01/15/14 at 1:54 pm

Today Governor Dayton released his capital budget recommendations.  He did not include any funding for Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants in his recommendations.  While this is disappointing, it is not a complete surprise.  Since the inception of the program in 1994, no governor has included funding for it in his capital budget recommendations, and yet we have consistently been able to persuade the Legislature to include funding in the final bonding bill.

Commissioner of Management and Budget Jim Schowalter noted in his transmittal letter to legislative leaders that competition for funding was fierce.  While the Governor is recommending a total of $986 million in capital projects, more than $2.9 billion in requests were submitted.

The only academic library project included in the Governor’s recommendation is on the Wadena campus of Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Fergus Falls and Wadena.  It states that “renovations will combine classroom and new library space on the Wadena campus.”

You can see the entire list of recommendations on the MMB website:  http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/critical.html

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Subject: Pre-Filed Bills, Wed 01/15/14  at 3:45 PM

Although the Legislature doesn’t convene until February 25, members of the House were given the opportunity to pre-file bills for introduction. The list was made public last night. Here are bills of interest:

HF 1923 (Newton)  Repeals all state aid to nonpublic schools, including telecommunications equity aid.

HF 1978 (Scott) Makes a contract between a government entity and a private vendor unenforceable if it fails to include in the contract a requirement that all of the data created, collected, received, stored, used, maintained or disseminated by the vendor must comply with all state data practices laws as if it were a government entity.  It applies to contracts entered into on or after August 1, 2014.

 HF 1997 (Gruenhagen)  Repeals current exemptions from obscenity laws for public schools and postsecondary institutions.  It leaves exemptions in place for public libraries, churches, museums, medical clinics, physicians, hospitals and government sponsored organizations.

 HF 2120 (Holberg)  Creates a Legislative Commission on Data Practices and Personal Data Privacy.

HF 2126 (Quam)  Requires cities and counties to have written procedures for charging and collecting fees and to make those procedures available to the public.

 HF 2138 (Holberg)  Requires that by January 1, 2020, any database maintained by a government entity that contains private or confidential data must have the capacity, within each individual record, to track the identities of users who access the data, including the date and time the data were accessed and the purpose for which the access occurred.

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