Latest news with #DFL-Hopkins
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Overtime period appears nearly done as budget deals materialize
The Brief Legislative leaders expect this to be the last week to start without a special session announced to vote on final budget deals. Legislators have agreements on every necessary omnibus budget bill. They're still working out policy issues in some cases. The health bill isn't finalized, but a spreadsheet shows MN Care cuts that seem to match an agreement to drop undocumented adults from the healthcare program. The education bill is written out and includes a steady budget for the next two years, but large cuts for 2028-29, mainly to special education. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The finish line might finally be visible for Minnesota's drawn-out budget deal. 'The end is near' Week three of overtime is here, and leaders expect it to be the last one. Lawmakers tell FOX 9 a special session could happen as soon as Wednesday. Leaders still have some heavy lifting to do in their policy negotiations, but there's an agreement now on the money in every bill, and the details are starting to become public. For example, the health bill isn't written out yet, but a spreadsheet includes major cuts to Minn-Care, which matches an agreement to remove undocumented adults from the program. Steady for now The biggest slice of Minnesota's budget pie is essentially done and Democrats protected some of the changes they made during their trifecta two years ago. "An education formula that is still indexed to inflation," said Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins). "And a bill that does not repeal unemployment insurance for our hourly, valuable hourly workers." But Republicans warn this budget could serve as a canary in a coal mine. It leaves funding steady for the next two years — without cuts even to private schools, as the governor had suggested. Cuts coming But in the next budget, this agreement calls for $420 million in cuts that will undoubtedly hit school districts hard. "You look at the declining enrollment, you look at the special ed costs coming up," said Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls). "I hope that people and school boards and superintendents and teachers alike are looking at this going how are we going to mitigate the risks that are in front of us." Some of the cuts are already laid out — including $48 million in transportation funding for special ed students. "I know the decisions around what programs would receive reductions was not easy," said Education Commissioner Willie Jett. "The hardest one was in special education." Blue Ribbon scalpel Jett will head up a Blue Ribbon commission to chop another $250 million from special education, almost 10% of the entire special ed budget for 2028-29. What's left? And at least one policy issue may still be up in the air. "If any of you have strong opinions either for or against them, seclusion rooms are that issue if you will," said Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie). "We're still working on it." The expansion of seclusion rooms that passed in the Senate is not in the fully written education bill, but working group members tell us it's possible this isn't the final version of the bill that'll be up for a vote during the special session.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota House considers repealing unemployment for hourly school workers in 2029
A school bus turns at the intersection of West Lake Street and South Lyndale Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Ellen Schmidt/Minnesota Reformer) Just two years after Minnesota became the first state to extend unemployment insurance to school bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teachers' aids, Democratic legislators are considering eliminating the benefit after summer 2028 to reach a budget deal with Republicans. The law continues to face stiff opposition from school districts, which say paying for unemployment benefits for hourly school workers takes critical funding away from the classroom while making it harder for them to find workers to fill part-time summer positions. Advocates say the benefit provides a critical lifeline to workers, who make around $17 an hour on average, while helping school districts retain experienced staff year after year. The Republican and DFL co-chairs of the House Education Finance Committee on Monday presented a budget agreement (HF1388) that provides additional funding for school districts to pay for unemployment benefits in the coming year but repeals the benefits in four years. Democrats tried to amend the education budget bill to maintain unemployment benefits for hourly school workers, but the effort failed on a tie vote in the evenly divided committee. The budget was then laid over to be taken up by the House Ways and Means Committee. House Education Finance Committee Co-Chair Rep. Cheryl Youakim, DFL-Hopkins, called agreeing to eliminate the benefits her 'biggest disappointment' during Monday's hearing and said she hopes they can find a way to retain it going forward. Setting the repeal date so far in the future means Democrats could reverse course again and keep the benefits going if they win back control of government. But some Democrats say they aren't willing to vote for the deal and bank on a strong election in 2026, which means the issue could divide the DFL House and Senate caucuses and become a key sticking point in budget negotiations over the next three weeks. The Legislature is set to adjourn May 19; they need to pass a budget by June 30 to keep the government open. The gloomy budget forecast has two Democrats proposing cuts to the paid family leave program slated to begin next year, though a majority of the party continue to oppose rolling back any parts of the sweeping progressive agenda passed in 2023. More than half a dozen House Democrats held a news conference on Friday with hourly school workers during which they blasted Republicans for demanding a repeal of the benefits long afforded other seasonal workers like those in construction. 'This is a line-in-the-sand moment for Democrats,' said Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, who authored the bill in the 2023 legislative session. Kristen Scott, who's worked as a special education paraprofessional for 20 years in the Elk River School District, said the unemployment benefits have helped her stay afloat during the summer months, when full-time work in schools is hard to come by. 'It also allows us to continue to come back each year to do the important job of helping all of our children thrive,' Scott said. 'Cutting unemployment benefits will force many in my field to seek other full-time jobs, leaving our kids wondering who will be there to care for them year after year.' School districts haven't had to pay anything toward unemployment benefits because the Minnesota Legislature created a $135 million fund to cover the costs until 2027 or the funds ran out. Benefits cost an estimated $45 million in 2023 and $57 million in 2024, according to the Minnesota Department of Education. That leaves about half of what's expected to be needed to pay for the benefits this summer. Gov. Tim Walz has proposed shoring up the fund with $30 million for this summer to help districts cover the cost, and a DFL-led Senate proposal would provide an additional $70 million the following year. After that, school districts would have to factor in the cost of unemployment into their regular budgets. Greenman said they passed the bill in 2023 with the expectation that school districts would eventually pick up the cost without state aid.
