Legislative Notes for the week of January 22-26, 2007

Governor releases budget recommendation

Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his biennial budget recommendation on Monday, which consists of a $2.9 billion increase in state spending with the majority of the new money going toward education and tax relief. For Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the recommended budget increase is $123 million over the biennium. This amounts to approximately 70 percent of the $177 million system request.

Included in the budget recommendation is $60 million for technology, $12 million for the recruitment and retention of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education, $10 million to expand science, technology, engineering and math education, $3 million to expand health care education, $3 million for a Biosciences Center of Excellence, and $10 million for management innovation.

In addition to the above, the governor recommended $25 million for the system for a "performance bonus" based on meeting goals related to the system's strategic plan. The system must meet three of the following measures to access the funding:
· Increase the percentage of students taking STEM courses by 5 percent
· Increase enrollment of upper division Center of Excellence programs by 5 percent
· An increase of at least 1,400 students trained on electronic medical record technology
· Increase the number of students taking online courses and/or increase online course offerings by 10 percent
· Expand utilization by 10 percent of “awards of excellence” or other initiatives that reward innovations

The governor also recommended $92 million for his ACHIEVE II program that awards students with post-secondary scholarships for taking challenging classes in high school. This funding would be appropriated to the Office of Higher Education. Pawlenty is also recommending a $75 million appropriation to the Office of Higher Education for a veterans’ package that would eliminate state income taxes on military pay and military pensions. This package also includes $30 million for a Minnesota GI Bill that will provide up to $2,000 per year in higher education benefits to veterans and their dependents.

You may find a summary of the governor's complete budget at http://www.finance.state.mn.us/budget/operating/200809/070122_summary.pdf

New education committee convened this week

Chair Mary Murphy, DFL-Hermantown, convened the House Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Committee this week. Rep. Murphy explained the purpose and role of the committee is to set education policy and spending for early education, K-12 education and higher education. Each chair of the education divisions, including Higher Education and Workforce Development Chair Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, spoke of their individual division goals and financial priorities. Rukavina talked about higher education being the "poor stepchild" in past years and that it is time to "fix the wound of future generations," meaning the high student debt load. He said the status quo is no longer working and something needs to be done about the high cost of a post-secondary education.

System bonding request heard

The Senate and House Capital Investment committees met this week to hear the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system's capital budget request. Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Al Johnson gave an overview of the system's $30 million Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement, or HEAPR, request and $3.8 million for land acquisition at Bemidji State University and Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. The majority of the HEAPR money would be used to replace roofs. Johnson explained, “You can only patch something for so long before you have to replace it.” Currently, roof repairs are made on a “leak by leak basis,” with costs taken out of the school’s operating budget.

Minnesota students named to federal legislation writing committees

Justin Klander, executive director of the Minnesota State College Student Association, was named to the federal negotiated rulemaking general provision team as a representative of students. Justin McMartin, chair of the Minnesota State University Student Association, will be serving as a student representative for the federal negotiated rulemaking process on Academic Competitiveness Grant/National SMART grant team. They will start crafting federal legislation in the coming weeks. The first trip to Washington D.C. is Feb. 7, 2007.