Legislative Notes for the week of March 27 - March 31, 2006

Bonding Update - House to Act Next Week

The House Capital Investment committee heard testimony this week on the Senate bonding bill (SF3475), which the Senate passed last week. Committee Chair, Rep. Dan Dorman, R- Albert Lea, said he wanted to hear testimony on the bill before they put the House bill together. The House Capital Investment committee will take up the bonding bill on Tuesday, April 4, and Chair Dorman hopes to have the bill off the House floor by the Passover/Easter break, which starts at 2 p.m. April 12. You may review a bonding bill comparison of the system’s request, the governor’s recommendation and the Senate bill at http://www.mnscu.edu/about/legislative/weeklyupdates/Bonding.html.

Two-Year College Students Recognized for Academic Achievement

Twenty-three two-year college students received recognition this week for their academic achievements. The students, who make up the All-Minnesota Academic Team, were honored at a luncheon held at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. The recognition program is sponsored annually by Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for two-year colleges. Nominees were selected based on biographical information, letters of recommendation, academic performance, demonstration of leadership, and campus and community service involvement. They also must have a grade point average of at least 3.25 at a Minnesota two-year college. Gov. Tim Pawlenty proclaimed March 30, 2006, the All-Minnesota Academic Team Day.

Chancellor James McCormick, Board of Trustees Chair Robert Hoffman and Susan Heegaard, director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, addressed the students and congratulated them for their accomplishments. Chancellor McCormick spoke of the importance of two-year colleges and thanked the college presidents for their commitment to education.

University of Minnesota Football Stadium Moves Through Committee

The University of Minnesota testified this week on the football stadium proposal. In the House, the proposal now awaits a hearing in the Ways and Means Committee, and in the Senate, it will be heard next in the Finance Committee. The proposal calls for the state to pay $9.4 million per year for 25 years for 2,840 acres of University of Minnesota land in Dakota County, known as UMORE Park. Upon conclusion of the payments, the university would sell the land to the Department of Natural Resources for $1. The money would be used by the university to help pay down its long-term debt on money borrowed to build a 50,000-seat football stadium on campus.

Minnesota State College Students Spend Day at Capitol

The Minnesota State College Student Association held its lobby day at the Capitol this week. The day included a press conference in the morning with Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, Sen. David Senjem, R-Rochester and Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm to discuss the “learning tax.” HF3169/SF3254, introduced by Seifert and Senjem respectively, prohibits cities from assessing colleges with a learning tax. The bill is in response to the St. Paul City Council proposal that would charge higher education institutions located in the city of St. Paul an additional $25 per student annually to pay for city costs. The bill has received a hearing in the House and is scheduled to receive a hearing in the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee on Monday.

House Budget Resolution Adopted

The budget resolution, which sets a limit on the maximum amount the state can spend for the remainder of the biennium, traveled between the House floor and the Ways and Means Committee a couple of times this week. Earlier in the week, the House Ways and Means Committee took up the budget resolution after it was rejected on the House floor and sent back to committee. The committee adopted a resolution that proposes to increase spending by $88 million compared with Gov. Pawlenty’s recommended $197 million. The $317 million in the tax relief account is proposed to be transferred to the general fund so it would be available for tax relief. The resolution went back to the House floor on Thursday and was adopted after a motion to reject the 2006 budget resolution did not prevail on a vote of 65 yeas and 69 nays. Those opposed to the budget resolution would like to know more about the ultimate budget targets.

Higher Education Act Passes House Floor

After two days of debate, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 609 this week on a 221 to 199 vote. This is the legislation that reauthorizes the Higher Education Act for the next six years. To gain support for the bill, the chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif., agreed to make significant changes to the bill, including softening provisions that were designed to crack down on colleges that increase their tuition and fees too much. Also removed from the bill was a provision that would have altered the formula the government uses to distribute funds to the three campus-based aid programs: Federal Work-Study, Perkins Loans and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. A provision saying that colleges could not refuse to grant credit for courses that were obtained by students at colleges accredited by national agencies, rather than the six regional accrediting bodies, was removed from the bill as well. The Senate version of the bill has not yet been brought to the floor.