Special Session

As promised, Governor Mark Dayton has vetoed the $17 billion education funding bill on Thursday, as passed by the Legislature at the close of the 2015 session. Gov. Dayton vetoed the bill because it targets most of its funding to increase per pupil funding. Dayton wanted $150 million more for education, with the money going to fund half day pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds in public schools.

Gov. Dayton’s letter to House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) includes a number of other provisions he would like to see in the education bill, including funding for English as a second language programs, free breakfasts for pre-kindergarteners and first graders, and funding for the Northside Achievement Zone and St. Paul Promise Neighborhood.

The veto means the Legislature will have to meet in a special session, not likely to take place before the end of the month. House Republicans are expected to announce next week that they will demand corresponding tax reductions for each dollar of increased education spending.

Dayton said he repeatedly offered to drop his pre-kindergarten proposal until the final moments of the 2015 legislative session if Republicans would agree to more funding for education overall. Dayton said Republicans repeatedly disagreed although Speaker Daudt said that at the end of the session, House Republicans and the Governor were only $25 million apart on overall education funding.

Additionally, Gov. Dayton said that he’s concerned the legacy and bonding bills were not passed this session. Dayton said he considers both “essential.”

With Capitol construction well underway, it’s unclear where a special session would be held. Dayton said he was serious about a proposal he made over the weekend to hold the session in a tent on the Capitol lawn, but he said he would be willing to consider any option that is affordable for taxpayers.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) said he’s not going to be involved in the negotiations with House Republicans for the special session. Sen. Bakk said he’ll deliver the votes for Dayton’s plan unless Dayton agrees to a Republican demand for a massive tax cut.

Speaker Daudt has said that Dayton needs to build support for his plan, and that it’s his fault the pre-K funding proposal couldn’t get the necessary support to pass. He said that legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, prefer to put money on the formula and let school districts decide how to spend it. Gov. Dayton is starting a tour around the state to promote his initiative.

Daudt said he would prefer that the Governor call a special session soon to provide some certainty to school districts. A new education bill is needed by June 30 to keep the Minnesota Department of Education operating.

House Republicans are also calling on the Governor to apologize for remarking that some Republicans “hate public schools.”

Dayton and Daudt plan to meet on Tuesday to discuss the agenda for the special session.

Agriculture/Environment Omnibus Bill

With a Special Session in the cards, environmental advocates angered about a budget bill that includes several controversial policy provisions picketed the Governor’s residence to demand a veto of that bill. Gov. Dayton surprised them all by coming outside to greet them and said he is still looking at all the budget bills and hasn’t decided whether to veto the environment and agriculture budget bill. Dayton cautioned them that it is a dual party Legislature and the provisions have already been legislatively negotiated.

Dayton asked the crowd, if he did veto the bill, which issues to focus on getting out. The elimination of the MPCA Citizens’ Board rose to the top of the list, but the Minnesota Environmental Partnership has sent Dayton a veto request letter outlining many objections. The Governor has until Saturday to veto the bill.

Jobs and Energy Omnibus Bill

The Jobs and Energy Omnibus Bill that came to the House floor in the final minutes of the 2015 Legislative session appears to leave out a critical chunk of funding: money to support six positions in a division of the Department of Commerce that reviews health insurance rates. The six jobs have been funded by a federal grant until now, in part because of new filing requirements set out by the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Dayton requested a little more than $1.3 million for the biennium to continue staffing the positions when funding runs out in September. The Administration’s proposal wasn’t adopted, and there’s no line-item funding in the bill to keep the rate analysts on staff.

House bill sponsor Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) said that the bill provides the Department the money it needs to fulfill its obligations under the law. The DOC Insurance Division overall is getting the same amount of funding it received in the last budget cycle. The Commerce Department said it will likely have to shift funds from another area to keep the health insurance rate analyst jobs.

Some Democrats are encouraging Gov. Dayton to veto the Jobs and Energy bill.

Soccer Stadium

Supporters of a proposed soccer stadium in Minneapolis are regrouping after the Legislature declined to authorize tax breaks for the facility during its regular session. The setback leaves an uncertain future for the Major League Soccer franchise. But Bill McGuire, the owner of the Minnesota United soccer team, is not giving up.

McGuire is still hopeful he’ll be able to build the stadium and win the property-tax exemption he said he’ll need to make it financially viable. But now that the Legislature has adjourned, his path just grew more difficult.

In contrast to other Minnesota sports teams, Minnesota United isn’t asking taxpayers to help cover its construction costs, but they have asked for a sales tax exemption on the building materials valued at about $3 million.

Southwest Light Rail

Ideas for lowering the $2 billion price tag of the proposed Southwest Corridor light rail project aren’t going over well with local officials from cities along the line.

Aiming to squeeze $341 million out of the budget, Metropolitan Council staff on Wednesday presented local leaders with about 50 possible cost-reduction measures.

Last month, the Metropolitan Council revealed it had drastically underestimated the cost of the planned 16-mile light rail line between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. Gov. Dayton said the ballooning price tag called into question whether the project was still viable.

Since then, planners have been looking for ways to make the rail line stick to its original $1.65 billion budget.

Peter Wagenius, an advisor to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, called the proposed cuts “extraordinary.” He made it clear that Hodges would not accept reductions that would diminish service on the city’s north side by cutting two of three planned stations there.

Cutting the Royalston Station would save up to $7 million and eliminating the Penn Station stop on the north side would save as much as $16 million. Other options for making small trims include cutting back on landscaping, pedestrian bridges and public art. Planners also could eliminate or scale back some suburban park and ride ramps that could cost as much as $25 million.

The big savings, however, would come from shortening the line by removing stations in Eden Prairie. Each station eliminated from the end of the line cuts between $70 million and $185 million.

The committee meets again in two weeks. Adam Duininck, the Chair of the Met Council, said Wednesday’s discussion shows how difficult the choices are. He expects the deliberations to grow more contentious as planners and policy makers narrow down the list of cost-cutting options.

Winkler Departure

Fifth-term Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) is resigning from the Legislature to move to Belgium where his wife has a job. Winkler was a vocal partisan orator with an acerbic bent. He was a champion of campaign finance reform, raising of the minimum wage, and toxic-free kids legislation. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) said in a statement: “The Legislature will miss Ryan’s wit and intelligence, but most of all we will miss his impatience with injustice. He is always willing to take on the tough fights and not back down.”

A special election will be held to fill Winkler’s seat. Peggy Flanagan, who currently serves as executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota, said she’s seriously considering a run for Winkler’s seat. Flanagan, who lives in St. Louis Park, previously worked for Sen. Al Franken, Wellstone Action, and Minnesotans United for All Families, the main group working against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.