Tom Saxhaug: End of Session Recap

End of Session Recap

The 2011 Legislative Session ended at midnight on Monday, May 23rd.  On Tuesday, the Governor vetoed the 9 budget bills that were presented in the last week of session.  There was no final budget agreement in the waning hours of the regular session.  Consequently, we will need to have a special session to balance the State Budget or we will end up in a government shutdown.  Governor Dayton moved from his original position of $3.35 billion in new revenue to a mix of $1.8 billion in new revenue and $1.8 billion in cuts.  The $1.8 billion in new revenue will only be generated from the top 2% of income earners in the State.  
The Republican controlled Legislature did not move from its original budget position, refusing to compromise in any way.  Some of the effects of their budget and the reasons that Governor Dayton vetoed the bills include:

• Increasing property taxes on homeowners, renters, and small businesses across the state by more than $1 billion over the next four years.
• Taking health care away from 140,000 Minnesotans, cutting $250 million from programs serving the elderly and disabled, and slashing funding for Minnesota hospitals by over $900 million.
• Cutting special education by $56.5 million.
• Making the biggest cuts to colleges and universities in our state's history – 14% from MnSCU and 19% from the University of Minnesota.
• Cutting funding to the DNR that will result in park closures during the summer, negatively affecting the tourism season that is one of the main economic drivers in our region.

Legislative Accomplishments

Even though the Legislature was unable to reach a compromise with the Governor on a balanced budget, there were important pieces of legislation that were passed in the 2011 session.  Below are the highlights of work accomplished for the citizens of Senate District 3:

• $100,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture to Lake of the Woods County. This is for a feasibility study, site identification and site preparation for a proposed biomass facility.
• Final legislation for the Highway 332 turnback in Koochiching County.  This will help with the county's transportation budget and economic development related to the Foreign Trade Zone near International Falls.
• The Aquatic Invasive Species language was part of the final Environment and Natural Resources Policy bill.  This will go a long ways towards stopping these non native species in their tracks, bringing this issue to the attention of the people of Minnesota, and getting tough on those who won't respect our natural resources.
• Language in the Agriculture bill will allow for counties to make improvements to their fairgrounds.  Aitkin County requested this legislation in order to exchange part of their county agriculture lands with an adjacent landowner.
• The Tax Policy bill which passed the final day of session contained language relating to a Tax Increment Financing shift for the City of Cohasset.  This will enable Cohasset to improve infrastructure related to economic development.

The Regular Session ended without a balanced budget and with fears of a government shutdown.  We sincerely hope it won't come to that and an agreement can be reached in June.

MCN Legislative Session Wrap-Up and Basics of Non-profit Advocacy Workshop

On Wednesday afternoon, June 8th,  Jeannie Fox, MCN's deputy public policy director, will be giving us an update on the Minnesota Legislative session and a primer on Nonprofit Advocacy at the Grand Rapids Area Library.

Legislative Session Wrap-Up

Come meet with other nonprofit leaders in your area to discuss the results of the 2011 legislative session. Jeannie Fox, MCN's deputy public policy director, will report from her role of monitoring and advancing legislative issues related to the nonprofit sector and will give a review of the legislative process and what may remain to be done. We would also love to hear reports of your own organization's issue area if you have been tracking legislation.

Basics of Nonprofit Advocacy

The Session Wrap-Up component will be followed by a brief training on the Basics of Nonprofit Advocacy. Jeannie will answer such questions as:

• Is lobbying legal for nonprofits?

• What does the IRS care about when it comes to nonprofits and advocacy?

• Are there state regulations regarding nonprofits and advocacy?

Agenda:

12:00 – 12:30     Lunch and/or networking – bring a bag lunch if you care to. Coffee and cookies will be provided.

12:30 – 1:30       Session Wrap-Up

1:30 – 3:00         Basics of nonprofit advocacy - training and discussion

Details:

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Noon to 3 p.m.

Grand Rapids Public Library, 140 NE Second St., Grand Rapids

Everyone welcome - no charge – but please let us know you are planning on attending by emailing Mary Streufert at mstreufert@minnesotanonprofits.org or call 218-726-4887.

Saxhaug Capitol Update: Conference Committee Reports nearly completed

Conference Committee Reports nearly completed

As we head into the final week of session, the Legislature is getting closer to presenting its budget to the Governor.  The Senate and House have finalized the majority of their conference committees.  Once those are completed and all the conference committee reports are passed on to the Governor, the Legislature will have its position for final negotiations.  There is still an approximate three billion dollar difference between what the Legislature is proposing and the Governor's budget recommendations.
Northern Minnesota is going to be negatively affected by whatever budget solution is passed.  The Sustainable Forest Incentive Act (SFIA), Local Government Aid (LGA), County Aid programs, Market Value Credit, Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and the Environment and Natural Resources Budget are critical to maintaining our way of life, and the budget being adopted does serious damage to those programs.  Below is a list of the major cuts that we stand to face:

• The SFIA program is repealed in the Omnibus Tax Bill (House File 42) voiding all contracts currently in place.
• PILT is cut 12% in the Omnibus Tax Bill (HF 42) resulting in property tax increases in counties that have public land.
• LGA, County Aid and the Market Value Credits are reduced by almost $487 million in the Omnibus Tax Bill (HF 42) which will result in cuts to essential services like Police and Firefighters for rural communities across the State.
• The cuts to the forestry budget in the Environment and Natural resources Budget Bill (HF 1010) will result in reductions of foresters working for the DNR and 250,000 fewer cords of wood being put up for sale – a 31% reduction to the 4th largest industry in the State.
• The Parks and Trails budget in the Environment and Natural Resources Budget Bill (HF 1010) is cut by $7.3 million.  This will result in DNR staff reductions, closing State Parks and have a negative effect on our tourism industry which creates $11 billion in revenue and almost $700 million in sales tax each year.

With seven days until adjournment of the Regular Session, I am still hopeful that a balanced approach can be reached and some of these cuts can be modified.

Final Issue:

A recap of the final budget solution and the 2011 Regular Legislative Session

Senator Saxhaug greeted the 6th grade students from McGregor Elementary during their visit to the State Capitol

Capitol Update from Tom Saxhaug

Senate Tax Bill cuts Payment in Lieu of Taxes

As part of the Republican solution to the $5 billion deficit, HF 42 – the Omnibus Tax Bill, has a provision that cuts Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT).  The purpose of PILT is to pay counties for Natural Resource land that is not on the tax base to help them provide mandated services and programs.  The concept has been around as far back as the 1940's and became law in the 1970's.  PILT payments are made to counties to provide property tax relief to residents who are paying a disproportionate share of the tax burden due to the presence of tax exempt public lands.  They also encourage retention of public land base and foster sustainable natural resource management for long term benefits for future generations.
Counties that have large amounts of public land rely on these payments to offset property taxes that aren't collected.  That money is critical to local budgets and this proposal will require rural counties to make additional cuts or increase the local property taxes to backfill the lost revenue.  The stability that PILT provides to counties with public land is crucial to the continued viability of local services, Minnesota's timber industry and recreation opportunities for everyone in the state.  

Higher Education Budget cuts U of MN and MNSCU

The Republican controlled Senate passed a budget for higher education that cuts the University of Minnesota 19% and MNSCU 13%.  This legislation cuts funding for the U of M by more than three times and the Minnesota's State Universities, Community Colleges and Technical Schools twice as much as the Governor's recommendations.  The last time our state funded Higher Education at this level was 1998 and we now have 50,000 more students per year.  These cuts mean a reduction of over $430,000 to Rainy River Community College and $890,000 to Itasca Community College (ICC).

Every dollar invested in the U of M by the state generates $13.20 in the statewide economy and more than $512.3 million in state and local tax revenue every year.  The MnSCU system produces about 34,700 graduates, each year and also serves 157,000 students in non-credit courses. A recent issue of Washington Monthly ranked Minnesota as one of the top Community College States in the U.S. and ICC was ranked 5th overall.  These cuts will have consequences beyond higher tuition and fees.  We will likely see faculty and staff layoffs, enrollment caps, reductions in the size and scope of course offerings and fewer student services. If we are going to be serious about creating jobs and attracting new businesses, we need to offer highly trained and skilled workers.  This proposal does nothing to help us work our way out of the Great Recession.

Senator Saxhaug had the opportunity to meet with Amy Hildebrandt, David Furuseth and the 4th and 5th grade students from Northome in the Governor's reception room as they toured the State Capitol

Next Issue:

The final stretch to the

Budget Solution