Friday, March 25, 2011

Higher education bills advance; Tuition caps included

Yesterday at the Capitol

The Senate Finance committee and the House Ways and Means committee both met yesterday afternoon and took up the respective higher education omnibus bills. Both committees approved the bills without any additional amendments, and sent them to the floor. Once the bills are taken up on the Senate and House floors, they will go to conference committee to work through the differences between the two bills. I reported on the bill details in prior daily updates, but will again remind you of the reductions to the system.

The Senate bill cuts the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system $167 million over the biennium from the fiscal year 2012-2013 forecasted base. For comparison purposes, the governor recommended a cut of $75.6 million over the biennium from the 2012-13 forecasted base, and the House bill cuts $201 million from the same base. The Senate bill brings the system's annual base down to $546.8 million, the House bill reduces the system's base to $529.8 million, and the governor's recommendation brings the system's base to $592 million.

Aside from the cuts, the other provision that affects the system's budget is the tuition caps. As a reminder, the Senate higher education bill caps tuition increases for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system's four-year institutions at 4 percent and for the two-year institutions at 3 percent. This is a slight change from the House higher education bill that caps the state universities at 4 percent and the two-year colleges at 2 percent.

Today at the Capitol
9:00 AM
Senate in Session

10:00 AM
Senate Finance
Room: 123 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Claire A. Robling
Agenda:
S.F. 771-Gerlach: Commerce department appropriations; petroleum tank release cleanup board sunset extension.
S.F. 987-Rosen: Public utilities commission appropriations.
S.F. 1029-Ingebrigtsen: Omnibus environment and natural resources finance and trust fund appropriations.
S.F. 958-Limmer: Public safety appropriations for courts, public defenders, corrections, criminal justice agencies, and boards.

10:30 AM
Senate Capital Investment
Room 112 Capitol
Chair: Sen. David H. Senjem
Agenda:
S.F. 986-Senjem: Bond sale authorization cancellation and appropriation reduction; state debt refunding requirement.

Looking Ahead
With the passage of the finance bills, we can anticipate that the higher education committees will not meet at their scheduled time twice weekly. Hearings will be subject to the call of the chair.

Monday, March 28
10:00 AM
Senate in Session

12:00 PM
House in Session

15 minutes after session
Senate Finance
Room: 123 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Claire A. Robling
Agenda: To be announced.

Tuesday, March 29
10:00 AM
Senate in Session

15 minutes after session
Senate Finance
Room: 123 Capitol
Chair: Sen. Claire A. Robling
Agenda: To be announced.

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