Latest news with #DFL-majority
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MN Legislature: Budget negotiations go behind closed doors
Lawmakers continued trying to piece together Minnesota's next two-year budget on Wednesday, though details of the process remained largely behind closed doors. Only one bill that's part of the $66 billion budget framework deal is getting public hearings so far: taxes. Other meetings on the dozen or so bills legislators need to pass aren't publicly posted or open to the public. Since lawmakers didn't finish a budget by the May 19 deadline, they're meeting in 'working groups' to get bills in shape before returning for a special session to pass a budget. Major areas of the budget, like the K-12 education and health bills that account for about two-thirds of state spending, are still incomplete. Transportation and higher education also still need work. Leaders say they hope a special session could happen as soon as the end of the week, or possibly following the Memorial Day weekend. Members of the House tied between Republican and Democratic-Farmer-Labor members and the one-seat DFL-majority Senate are working on remaining bills in private discussions to hash out final details before Gov. Tim Walz calls them back to the Capitol. Since they aren't in session, they are instead meeting for working groups rather than as full-fledged committees. Much like the overarching budget negotiations between the governor and legislative leaders earlier this month, the public is in the dark about what's happening during these discussions. When it comes to the groups currently developing budget bills, Matt Ehling, a board member with Minnesotans for Open Government, said putting key decisions behind closed doors can obscure who or what influenced decisions. 'Having more access to the process would allow the public to see what legislators are weighing and what they're not weighing,' he said. 'The rationale is often as important as the outcome.' Ehling said it's during this part of the process where the public loses sight of how state leaders make decisions. There may have been public hearings on many bills in the past few months, but now the leaders go underground and emerge with a deal which they then sign off on with limited discussion in a public committee. 'They basically have created a situation where they block out the public from being able to weigh in on these issues,' said Hamline University political science professor David Schultz. 'These are working groups. They're not official. It's just a way of avoiding transparency and avoiding accountability.' There also isn't any publicly available document with complete details on the deal between Walz and legislative leaders. Most of the information has come in the form of statements from officials. And the information hasn't always been complete. For example, Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth made it seem like cuts to state aid for private schools are off the table, while House DFL leader Melissa Hortman has told reporters that they remain subject to negotiations. A cut to the state family and medical leave payroll tax touted by Demuth as part of the deal turned out to be a decrease to a cap on the maximum rate. Meanwhile, lawmakers working on the taxes bill weren't in complete agreement Tuesday about how the agreement would shape their decision-making. Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, said they'd seek further guidance from leaders on how to proceed. Schultz said leaving the details of the global budget agreement externally vague serves a useful purpose for legislators who will have to make difficult compromises. He called the budget agreement announced by the governor, Senate DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy and leaders in the 67-67 tied House last Thursday more of a 'framework' than a 'deal.' 'By keeping it so general, it … gives each side an ability to spin the deal in a way that most favors them,' he said. 'If you put too much detail into it, you might not be able to sell the deal to either the rest of your members of your party, or to your supporters or to the voters.' At least for the top-level agreements, Hortman said private meetings between leaders and the governor are the best way to arrive at a compromise before delegating work to different committees. Things didn't work as well when cameras were in the room during past administrations, she said. 'You need people to be able to say what's their bottom line and to make their emotional pitch and to say where their caucuses are and say where their votes are,' Hortman told reporters Monday. 'People have to really show their cards. So that is a space that has not ever and probably will not ever be transparent.' Lawmakers and the governor have to finish the budget by June 30 or the state government shuts down. Committee leads had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to finish their work. Hortman told reporters Monday that she and other leaders could get involved with the process if there weren't any agreements by that time. Legislature begins work on budget deal ahead of special session MN Legislature: Pension changes for teachers goes to governor to sign Big pieces of MN budget unfinished; Legislature to return for special session Former state legislator Melisa López Franzen ends campaign for U.S. Senate MN Legislature sends Stillwater prison closure to governor; key budget pieces remain
Axios
23-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Schools seek more cash for hourly worker summer unemployment pay
A pot of state money meant to help Minnesota schools start paying summer unemployment to bus drivers, cafeteria staff and other hourly employees is running dry. Why it matters: Districts are seeking tens of millions of dollars in additional state funding to keep the benefits flowing this summer amid a projected shortfall. The ask is just one example of cash-strapped schools seeking more money — or flexibility —from the increasingly cash-strapped state budget. Catch up fast: In 2023, the DFL-majority Legislature made Minnesota the first state in the nation to pass a law requiring summer break unemployment benefits for non-instructional school employees. Supporters said the change would make pay more equitable and decrease turnover for essential staff such as bus drivers, cafeteria staff and para professionals. Case in point: Cat Briggs, a 67-year-old bus driver for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, told Axios she almost lost her house the first year on the job "because I didn't have enough income" during the summer. The SEIU Local 284 member, who ended up washing buses in the summer to make ends meet, said she and many other drivers would have retired sooner without the unemployment benefits. Follow the money: Lawmakers earmarked $135 million in the two-year budget passed in 2023 to help districts cover the costs of providing the partial summer pay. That fund was supposed to last through June 2027 — or until the money ran out. What happened: Demand — and costs — jumped 40% between 2023 and 2024, with an estimated $56 million in benefits paid out last year, a state survey found. Less than half of what's needed to cover the expected costs for this coming summer remains. What they're saying: While districts were always supposed to foot the bill eventually, some are balking at the prospect, given their own grim financial realities. "This either needs to be funded, or the program needs to be reconsidered," Minnesota School Boards Association executive director Kirk Schneidawind told Axios. " Resources are tight and we want to direct as much as we need to our classrooms." What we're hearing: DFL Rep. Emma Greenman, who spearheaded the original law, told Axios that while she's open to a short-term funding fix, she thinks districts should ultimately figure out how to bake the costs into their budgets. "After we passed this bill, it was one of the first times that I can remember where we didn't have a bus driver shortage," the Minneapolis Democrat said, calling it "disingenuous" to "balance our budget on the backs of these workers." Some legislative Republicans, meanwhile, want to roll back the requirement altogether, leaving it up to individual school districts to decide whether to offer (and cover) the benefits. Between the lines: School district leaders — and GOP lawmakers — said the change has actually worsened fall staffing shortages for some districts, as retiring bus drivers and others wait until after the summer is over to put in their notice. Where it stands: Both Gov. Tim Walz's budget proposal and the DFL-led Senate education spending measure allocate another $30 million to help cover this summer's costs, with the Senate's bill adding $70 million for the following fiscal year. Lawmakers in the divided House are still working through differences in their education budget bill. What we're watching: The original law prohibited districts from asking voters for levy increases to cover the summer unemployment costs. That could also change. "If the choice is to not have it funded or to have a levy, then we've got to at least have the levy so we can at least have a funding stream," Association of Metropolitan School Districts executive director Scott Croonquist told Axios. Zoom out: Mandates drive funding debate The unemployment cash request is part of a broader push by school districts to get the divided Legislature to roll back or cover the cost of mandates passed over the last two years. State of play: State lawmakers approved a historic $2.2 billion in new school funding in 2023. But district leaders say increased costs, staffing shortages and "new expectations, programs, and requirements" from the state have eaten into those funds. Stunning stat: The Association of Metropolitan School Districts warns that members face a combined budget shortfall of more than $280 million for the 2025-26 school year. Friction point: Legislative Republicans say years of mandates have put districts in the red, and tied their hands when it comes to passing balanced budgets. "The cuts are coming to the classroom, because that's the only place they can make the cuts," Sen. Jason Rarick, a Pine City Republican serving as ranking member of the Senate Education Finance Committee, said at a recent news conference. The other side: House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman defended the new laws, saying the funding in question was meant to provide critical support for everything from student mental health services to paid sick time for staff. "These are policies that have accountability mechanisms and we expect school districts to live up to the same expectations as every other employer in this state," she said.
