Legislative Notes for the week of May 8 - May 12, 2006

One Week to go Before Adjournment

According to the Minnesota Constitution, lawmakers have until May 22 to finish business and adjourn. The major bills are now in conference committee where conferees are working out the differences between the House and Senate. The issues the Legislature is working on include a bonding bill, stadiums for the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings, an eminent domain bill and a supplemental bill that includes any new spending. With a little over a week to go, we are watching closely to see how it all plays out.

Bonding Conferees Continue to Meet

While the bonding conference committee did not meet this week until today, proposals were made through press conferences, and conferees were given a target of $949 million for the bill, which is what they needed to move forward. Conferees came together this morning and at the time of this writing, are still meeting. The Senate and House have been exchanging proposals, however nothing has been accepted yet. Going into the meeting today, the Senate and House were $10 million apart on a number for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. The House’s latest offer was $203 million for the system, and the Senate’s latest offer was $213 million. We will continue to keep you notified of any major happenings.

Supplemental Budget Bill Moves Forward – Conference Committee Meets

The Senate took up the supplemental budget bill on the floor this week and passed it on a vote of 64-3. Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, explained the higher education provisions in the bill, including $5 million for the new Rochester campus of the University of Minnesota. Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, offered an amendment urging the University of Minnesota-Rochester to only offer education in areas where it is uniquely qualified and to avoid unnecessary duplicative offerings of courses and programs. The amendment was adopted. With the Senate passage of the supplemental budget bill, conferees were announced and began to meet today. The conferees for the House are Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud; Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester; Rep. Dennis Ozment, R-Rosemount; Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall and Rep. Loren Solberg, DFL-Grand Rapids. The Senate conferees are Sen. Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul; Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis; Sen. Dennis Frederickson, R-New Ulm; Sen. John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter and Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer.

Conferees spent the first meeting today going through the side-by-side of the bill. This is the document that compares the House and Senate bills. After a brief recess, conferees listened to testimony on provisions in question. The next meeting of the supplemental budget conference committee will be on Monday, May 15. Sen. Cohen indicated that conferees will listen to more testimony, and go through and hopefully adopt similar provisions in the two bills. Sen. Cohen and Rep. Knoblach, the chairs of the conference committee, hope to have a target for the bill by late Monday. Stay tuned

Stadium Bills Pass Senate, Head to Conference Committee

The Senate passed bills for the three stadiums this week, one bill for the Minnesota Twins and Vikings, and a separate bill for the University of Minnesota. The bills differ quite significantly from the House and therefore headed to conference committee today to work through those differences. One of the issues discussed today in committee is the issue of a retractable roof. The Senate's stadium plan for the Twins includes a retractable roof, while the House passed a proposal for an open-air ballpark without a roof. The Twins have said the cost and construction delays associated with a new roof would be too much to bear and are not supportive of it. Conferees did not vote today, but plan to reconvene Monday, when it will look at a Vikings stadium funding plan.

Senate Passes Bioscience Buildings for the University of Minnesota

A biomedical sciences funding program for the University of Minnesota was passed by the Senate this week. SF3044, sponsored by Sen. Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, authorizes the university to invest $330 million in five new bioscience research laboratories over the next 10 years. The bill creates a Biomedical Science Research Facilities Authority to award grants from the bond sale proceeds and would cover 90 percent of the cost. The university would pay 10 percent of the cost. The authority could finance construction of one new building every two years. Many senators questioned allowing the university to bypass the Legislature's bonding process; however, the bill did pass on a vote of 51-15 and then was laid on the table to await a still-pending companion bill from the House, where bills relating to state bond sales must originate.

DREAM Act Still Alive

Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, and Rep. Ray Cox, R-Northfield, the chief authors of the DREAM Act legislation, held a press conference this week calling on Gov. Tim Pawlenty to reverse his opposition to the Minnesota Dream Act. Pappas and Cox spoke about the importance of a college education for all students and said the Minnesota Dream Act is an important initiative and a major investment in the future of all Minnesotans. The proposed bill would allow Minnesota high school students whose parents are undocumented immigrants to attend Minnesota colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates.

Felipe Mancera, a St. Paul high school student graduate whose dreams of attending college have been put on hold due to financial barriers, spoke at the press conference. “I want to study sports medicine and become an athletic trainer,” said Felipe. “The Minnesota Dream Act would be a huge help as I work to achieve those goals and to contribute to the economic and social vitality of this state.”

According to Mariano Espinoza, co-director of the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, the Dream Act has worked exceptionally well in the states where it has become law, including Illinois, California, New York and Texas. Espinoza said any fears that the Minnesota Dream Act would violate federal law are not correct. “Ten state legislatures and 10 governors have passed laws like the one proposed in Minnesota, confident they are well within the law. Since 2001, none of these states' Dream Act laws have been successfully challenged,” Espinoza said.

Federal Update

Federal Funding for Research Inches Up Despite Overall Budget Woes

The U.S. Department of Education has benefited from research funding increases in some areas in recent years. The Institute of Education Sciences was established in fiscal year 2002, and in fiscal year 2005, the National Center for Special Education Research was established, both with budgets to support research at colleges and universities. Universities have benefited from the doubling of the National Institutes of Health funding in the early millennium. The National Science Foundation also has benefited in recent years from federal appropriations and has expanded programming to include more two-year college activities. The National Endowment for the Humanities slowly has increased its budget in each of the past five years with its new “We the People” program providing funds for colleges and universities to use to explore significant events and themes in U.S history.

Federal Earmark and Work with the U.S. State Department Results in a September Conference in Turkey

Plan ahead for fall 2006 and attend a jointly sponsored conference by Ankara University and Bemidji State University at Ankara University in Ankara Turkey on Sept. 18-20. In addition to the conference activities, there will be opportunities to take part in a pre-conference program in Istanbul and a post-conference in the Anatolia region by the Mediterranean Sea. Participants will include higher education institutions from Central Asia, the Balkans and Turkey. Members from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will have an opportunity to exchange program ideas and explore possible projects with their counterparts in higher education from a broad mix of Central Asian and European universities and colleges. The conference also is sponsored by the Department of State of the United States and the Turkish International Cooperation Agency.

The dates have been set and the major themes of the conference will focus on transnational cooperation. Hotels and registration prices will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. Save the dates now for an international experience that will create opportunities for your institution to network internationally. For more information, contact David Kingsbury at dkingsbury@bemidjistate.edu or call at (218) 755-2949.

Tax Bill Stripped of Higher Education Favored Provisions

Both the House and Senate passed tax bills this week that focused primarily on extensions related to capital gains, deductions and exemptions. Provisions that were of interest to colleges and universities were left out in the compromise legislation. Congress may attempt a second “trailer bill” later this year. Not included in the bill, but desired by colleges and universities, were provisions that could stimulate charitable giving by letting taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions deduct some of their donations and allow older Americans to withdraw money from individual retirement accounts and contribute it to charity. A provision that could end up in subsequent legislation would extend the ability to deduct income as much as $4,000 a year in higher education expenses (up to $2,000 for individuals who earn between $65,000 and $80,000 or married couples who earn between $130,000 and $160,000). A corporate tax credit for investments in university research and development also could be extended through a trailer bill.