Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Education Reform discussed; Governor calls for budget action

Yesterday at the Capitol

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was in Minnesota yesterday talking with legislators about education reform. Bush discussed successful efforts he led that include giving schools grades and providing vouchers for students in failing schools. DFL lawmakers held a press conference afterward and argued this is not the time to bring in governor's from other states to talk about education reform, but said the focus should be on the budget. Sen. Chuck Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, said comparing Florida to Minnesota in the area of education is like comparing apples and oranges. Wiger said Minnesota is a leader in education with a higher graduation rate than Florida. He also said he is proud of the universities that prepare our teachers.

Meanwhile, committees continue to meet to process policy bills before Friday's deadline, and Gov. Dayton and Republican leadership continue to debate the best way to resolve the $5 billion budget deficit. Dayton held a news conference yesterday and said legislative leadership is not putting forward what he said is "an honest budget plan." He called for lawmakers to pass the budget bills and send them to him by May 6, so they can begin negotiations. Gov. Dayton's staff and legislative staff are scheduled to meet today to begin the process of reconciling some fiscal differences in the various budget bills.

There is no word on a higher education conference committee scheduled for this week. We will continue to keep you posted.

Today at the Capitol

8:15 AM
House State Government Finance
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Morrie Lanning
Agenda:
HF1309 (Kahn) State government finance; amount billed by the commissioner of management and budget for statewide services provided changed, general fund budget reserve maximum amount set, additional forecast balance allocated, which fund bond proceeds are credited to specified, Environmental Quality Board technical changes made, Enterprise Real Property Technology System funds availability extended, and money appropriated.
HF1036 (Sanders) State passenger vehicle fleet management and consolidation provided.
HF2 (Banaian) Zero-based budgeting required, and sunset advisory commission and sunset process established for state agencies
HF384 (Dettmer) Campus veterans representative program sunset repealed
HF1024 (Stensrud) Deputy commissioner numbers reduced and assistant commissioner position eliminated in the unclassified service.
HF1063 (Murray) Counties permitted to perform private audit meeting standards of state auditor.
HF886 (Lanning) Compulsive gambling money appropriated

10:00 AM
Conference Committee on S.F. 1030: K-12 Education
Room 300S State Office Bldg.
Chairs: Sen. Gen Olson and Rep. Pat Garofalo
CONFEREES:
SENATE: Olson; Nelson; Thompson; Kruse; Wolf
HOUSE: Garofalo; Kelly; Doepke; Fabian; Erickson
Agenda: Continue walking through side by side documents.

10:30 AM
Senate Jobs and Economic Growth
Room: 107 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Geoff Michel
Agenda: S.F. 1199-Pederson: Prevailing wage provisions modifications.

12:00 PM
Senate in Session

1:00 PM
Senate State Government Innovation and Veterans
Room: 123 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Mike Parry
Agenda:
S.F. 943-Ingebrigtsen: Miscellaneous aquaculture, game and fish, hunting, elk crop damage, fish and wildlife management plans, invasive species, natural resources department (DNR) provisions modifications.
S.F. 1146-Wolf: Public employees dues check off written request requirement for certain contributions.
S.F. 16-Wiger: Resolution urging Congress to investigate the Prisoner of War - Missing in Action (POW/MIA) issue.
S.F. 327-Miller: Fillmore county veterans cemetery requirement.
S.F. 994-Senjem: Bingo gross profits use for allowable expenses percent increase.
S.F. 878-Higgins: Honorary military service prior offense presumption of rehabilitation.
S.F. 1234-Kruse: Secretary of state business entities certificates issuance process provisions clarifications and modifications.
S.F. 1200-Nelson: State capitol preservation commission establishment and appropriation.
S.F. 361-Magnus: Mitochondrial disease awareness week establishment.
S.F. 959-Vandeveer: Disabled veterans homestead market value exemption extension to primary family caregiver.
S.F. 575-Newman: State agency rulemaking adoption legislative approval requirement.
S.F. 993-Newman: Contested case hearing by office of administrative hearings submission.
S.F. 1137-Hann: State agency programs designation as performance-based organizations for persons with disabilities.

4:30 PM
House in Session

Looking Ahead

Thursday, April 28


8:15 AM
House Education Reform
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Sondra Erickson
Agenda: HF1381 (Erickson) Prekindergarten through grade 12 education policy provided, including general education, education excellence, special programs, facilities and technology, early childhood education, and student transportation.
*Note: HF1381 will become the omnibus education policy bill. The agenda will be mark-up and passage of the omnibus.

8:15 AM
House State Government Finance
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Morrie Lanning
Agenda:
HF554 (Johnson) Mississippi River Parkway Commission expiration date changed.
HF1411 (Kahn) Geospatial advisory council provisions changed and expiration date extended.
HF1331 (Benson) State agencies required to enter into contracts to provide consulting services for improvements to state-operated systems and services.
HF1376 (Leidiger) E-Verify use required by state contractors.
HF1506 (Banaian) Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy new duties assigned, duties transferred from executive agencies, and money appropriated.

8:30 AM
Conference Committee on H.F. 42: Omnibus tax bill
Room: 15 Capitol
Chairs: Rep. Greg Davids, Sen. Julianne Ortman
Agenda: HF42 Omnibus Tax Bill

12:30 PM
House Jobs and Economic Development Finance
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Bob Gunther
Agenda:
HF844 (McFarlane) Public library representative provided for the Governor's Workforce Development Council.
HF1164 (Murdock) JOBZ provisions modified.
HF1032 (Torkelson) Prevailing hours of labor requirements modified.

3:00 PM
Senate Education
Room 112 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Gen Olson
Agenda:
S.F. 939-Nienow: Pupil transportation provisions modification.
S.F. 946-DeKruif: School districts joint operation and innovative delivery of education pilot project establishment.
S.F. 1073-Nelson: School districts transition planning for high school students to successfully pursue postsecondary education and employment.
S.F. 408-Wolf: Teacher's union financial reporting requirement.
S.F. 612-Benson: Youth athlete concussion policies establishment.

6:00 PM
Senate State Government Innovation and Veterans
Room: 123 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Mike Parry
Agenda:
S.F. 174-Fischbach: Electronic linked bingo, electronic pull-tabs and video lottery terminals establishment.
S.F. 702-Parry: Lawful gambling tax rates modification; linked bingo and electronic pull-tabs authorization.
S.F. 1266-Wiger: State government resource recovery program modifications.
S.F. 1270-Wiger: Geospatial advisory council appointing authority modification and expiration date extension.

Friday, April 29

8:15 AM
House State Government Finance
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Morrie Lanning
Agenda:
HF182 (Beard) State and local water management study required.
HF1332 (Hansen) Legislative auditor governing provisions modified.
HF1579 (McFarlane) Counties given authority to provide for general welfare, and alternative service delivery pilot program for waivers established.

12:00 PM
Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement
Room: 10 State Office Building
Agenda: Organizational Meeting
Election of 2011-2012 Commission Officers:
- Chair
- Vice Chair
- Secretary

Tuesday, May 3

2:30 PM
Legislative Audit Commission - Topic Selection Subcommittee
Room: 112 State Capitol
Chair: Sen. Roger Reinert
Agenda: Working session to select 5 - 6 evaluation topics for
consideration by the full Legislative Audit Commission

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