Higher Education omnibus crafted

The House higher education omnibus bill advanced another hurdle Wednesday in the House Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Finance Division. Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, presented the bill. It was approved and referred to the House Finance committee.

Please find a comparison of the House and Senate omnibus bills here. The Senate has two separate bills traveling, a policy and finance bill. The spreadsheet highlights the bill where the corresponding provision is found. The House has one omnibus bill that includes both finance and policy provisions.

Stalemate over size of bonding bill

Lawmakers originally had hoped that a bonding bill would be on its way to the governor’s desk before the Legislature breaks for spring recess. That spring recess began today with no sign of an agreement. The House and Senate have been debating over the size of the bonding bill, which has put off the start of conference committee meetings. Both bodies agreed to first versions of the bill, but the question now remains: What should be the size of the bill?

After the February forecast showed a $935 million deficit, Gov. Tim Palwenty asked for the bill size to be reduced to $825 million, which would keep principal and interest payments to no more than 3 percent of the state’s general fund. The governor is now calling on House and Senate leaders to shrink the size of the bill or has said he will pull out the veto pen.

Bonding revamped

Thursday morning, the Senate Finance Committee approved a second package of bonding projects and advanced the proposal to the full Senate.

At the request of Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, the Senate bonding chariman, the committee adopted an amendment to SF2538, containing a $925 million bonding package. (This brings the original total down from $965 million). Langseth said the governor has indicated he wants a package of about $825 million. Putting a $925 million proposal out is intended to establish a Senate position on a slightly smaller bill for conference committee purposes, Langseth said. Changes to the proposal for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities do not include any cuts, there is however additional funding of $3.5 million for Ridgewater College, and $2.4 million for Hennepin Technical College (these projects were not included in the Senate's original bill). For this proposal, this puts the system total at $277 million. According to The Bemidji Pioneer yesterday, both Rep. Alice Hausman, the House Capital Investment Chair and Langseth neither knew the next step in finishing a bonding bill. “If this goes to the floor, it is to make a statement to the position we are in,” Langseth said. “It is a long, long way from passing.”