Legislative updates

Legislative Notes for the week of February 27 – March 3, 2006

Legislative Session is Underway

The 2006 legislative session is now underway. Both the House and Senate met for opening floor sessions on Wednesday, and committees are starting to hear bills. Gov. Pawlenty held a press conference this week expressing his support for a bill that would prohibit pay for the governor and legislators if legislative work is not completed on time. As you will likely recall, last year the special session went into the summer, and the delay resulted in a partial state government shutdown. Lawmakers have until May 22 to complete their work.

Flurry of Bill Introductions

In the first week of the 2006 legislative session, House members introduced 579 bills and senators have introduced 405 bills. The first bill deadline is March 28. Committees must act favorably on a bill introduced in the house of origin by this date for it to advance. The second deadline, April 4, is for committees to act favorably on bills or companion bills that met the first deadline in the other body. And the third deadline is April 11 for committees to act favorably on omnibus finance bills. Some of the more hot issues we are seeing introduced as bills include individual bonding projects, eminent domain, and bills that may help to avoid an impasse and potential special session.

February Economic Forecast Relatively Modest

The FY2006-2007 budget forecast is fairly modest with an $88 million surplus remaining after the K-12 school shift buyback of $93 million. Included in the projected revenues is the $400 million from the tobacco fee laws enacted by the Legislature last year, which are currently being challenged in court. If the state loses the health impact fee appeal, the Department of Finance is projecting a potential loss of $370 million in revenue which will put the FY2006-2007 budget in a deficit.

Projected revenue and expenditures for FY2008-2009 are expected to be roughly equal once the cost of inflation and the pending loss of revenues from a potential constitutional amendment that would dedicate all general fund motor vehicle sales tax revenue to transportation are taken into account. You may view the complete February 2006 Economic Forecast at www.finance.state.mn.us.

Bonding Request to Be Heard in Committee

Gov. Pawlenty has urged lawmakers to pass a capital budget bill totaling $897 million, of which $142.5 million is recommended for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ projects. The House Higher Education and Capital Investment committees and the Senate Higher Education committee are scheduled to hear from the system in the upcoming weeks on our $280.4 million request. Stay tuned as the bonding bill picks up momentum at the capitol.

Governor to Deliver State of the State Message Next Week

Next Thursday, March 9, Gov. Pawlenty is scheduled to deliver his state of the state message in front of the legislature. Generally, governors outline their priorities for the upcoming session in the speech. We look forward to hearing about the visions the governor has for the 2006 legislative session.