With the Legislature on its week-long Easter/Passover break, this is a good time to look back on what has happened so far during the current session. The most positive aspect of state government has been our improved economic outlook, which has seen the budget moderate from a projected $5 billion deficit to an estimated $1.2 billion surplus. This was done without tax increases on the state level as the long-term spending curve was lowered to a more realistic level.
An article in a Sunday metro newspaper called this an “unproductive legislative session.” I would challenge that statement in citing several small-business bills that have been passed, only to be vetoed by the Governor. That is his legislative authority, and I respect that, but to say that we have not produced much in the way of legislation is not fully telling the entire story.
As an example, we passed a stand-alone bill that would have paid back an additional $500 million to our schools that was part of the education shift. The bill was vetoed last week by Gov. Dayton, who felt it wasn’t prudent to take the money out of our reserves. He is correct in saying the funds would have come out of state reserves, but we felt that leaving over a half-billion dollars in the state’s reserves was sufficient to cover the state’s short term cash flow needs.
A Ramsey County judge ruled last week against Gov. Dayton and his push to unionize day care providers. The order said the governor over-stepped his authority in ordering a vote last December by those providers who have clients receiving state child care subsidies. A temporary restraining order halted the election, and last week’s ruling said that, in order for it to be conducted, the Legislature has to first act to authorize such an election.
Nearly all day care providers I visited with were against unionization, citing the fact that they were small business owners, many of whom thought their rates would have to increase if they were forced to pay union dues. In addition, not all providers would have been able to vote, as ballots were to be sent only to those who received the state subsidy for needy families.
The two biggest pieces of legislation remaining to be worked on are the bonding bill and a Vikings’ stadium proposal. Numbers for the bonding bill are all over the board, with the House having the smallest package of just under $300 million. The Senate version calls for around $500 million to be spent on projects of state-wide significance, while the Governor earlier called for spending nearly $800 million. Keep in mind that we’ve already done one bonding bill for this session (one for a half billion was signed into law last July as part of the budget agreement to end the shutdown). It could prove difficult to get one signed this year as Republicans generally prefer a smaller number and Democrats a larger one, and it takes a two-thirds majority to pass bonding bills.
The stadium bill is still alive, having passed out of one House committee and being given approval by the Rules Committee to continue moving through the process despite missing earlier deadlines. Tax relief for the charities who operate pull tabs has been agreed to, in addition to back-up funding sources to cover the state’s bond payments should the revenue from electronic pull tabs fall short of projections. Time is running out for the stadium this session, however, stranger things have happened so there is still a chance an agreement could be reached.
Rep. Anderson can be contacted by email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn or by phone at 651-296-4317. To receive email updates sign-up on his webpage at www.house.mn/13a
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