Legislative Updates and Ewald at the Capitol for 2024
Legislative Update--Week of April 1, 2024
With a shortened week due to the first of three legislative recesses, fewer committee hearings were held, and fewer bills heard this week. And, as we head to the second of two recesses, and the April 19 bill deadline, we are at the tail end of weeks of hearings on individual bills as the Education Finance committees begin to roll-out their supplemental budget bills.
Senate passes Omnibus Education Policy Bill
On a 35-31 vote, the Senate debated and passed SF3567, the omnibus education policy bill Tuesday. Several amendments of note were adopted:
- Additional policy changes to the Read Act to line up with the House language including extending the professional development timeline for reading intervention teachers, literacy specialists etc. to July 1, 2026.
- Extending the effective date for the prohibition on American Indian mascots from September 1, 2025, to September 1, 2026.
- Expanding the allowable uses of student support personnel aid to allow it to be used to maintain existing positions, including those established prior to the 2023 school year, not just those funded with ESSR funds.
The House has yet to pass the companion but is scheduled to take it up next week.
Committee hearings – week of 4/1/2024
The House Education Finance Committee heard the Governor’s budget bill. While the Governor did not recommend any new funding, it does allocate the $50 million set aside last session for VPK. Additionally, there are several positive policy provisions included in his budget bill, including 1) allowing school districts to retain unspent student support personnel aid in a restricted fund balance for use in subsequent fiscal years; and 2) expanding the Special Education Teacher Pipeline Program to include those teachers with a Tier 3 or Tier 4 license and adding Tribal contract schools to the list of eligible grantees.
Dates to Remember
Committee Deadlines
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Legislative Recesses
- Easter recess: Begins on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm through Tuesday, April 2 at 12:00 noon
- Eid recess: Begins on Tuesday, April 9 at 5:00 pm through Thursday, April 11 at 12:00 noon
- Passover recess: Monday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 noon
Adjournment:
- Monday, May 20
Legislative Update--Weeks of March 18 and 25, 2024
No Updates
Legislative Update--Week of March 11, 2024
It was another week of full committee hearings as both the House and Senate education policy committees wrapped up hearing individual bills. Next week, both committees will advance their respective omnibus education policy bills.
Clarification on school resource officer law enacted into law
Legislation to clarify the 2023 law that led to uncertainty for school resource officers has now become law. Earlier in the week, the Senate passed the bill but included an amendment that required the House and Senate to meet in a conference committee to resolve the differences. That conference committee agreed to the final bill language and passed it quickly. The Governor signed it Thursday afternoon.
Committee hearings – week of 3/11/2024
The House Education Policy Committee heard many bills this week, as it is the last week of hearing stand-alone bills before they move forward with their omnibus education policy bill.
The Senate Education Policy committee heard a bill to allow districts to award credit based on the student’s mastery of the subject rather than the number of hours of instruction.
The Senate Tax Committee heard legislation to expand the eligible expense for the education tax credit to include costs to participate in a career and technical education program (transportation, participation in a student organization, equipment expenses). No action was taken and instead was laid over and may be included in the tax bill at a later date.
Another “interesting” bill that was heard was one to prohibit bird hatching as part of a school curriculum (this was amended to only apply to waterfowl and not chicks) but it has caused an uproar so hopefully this won’t advance. The Minnesota Association of Agriculture Educators testified with concerns about the proposal.
Dates to Remember
Committee Deadlines
- Friday, March 22: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Legislative Recesses
- Easter recess: Begins on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm through Tuesday, April 2 at 12:00 noon
- Eid recess: Begins on Tuesday, April 9 at 5:00 pm through Thursday, April 11 at 12:00 noon
- Passover recess: Monday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 noon
Adjournment:
- Monday, May 20
Legislative Update--Week of March 4 2024
With the fourth week of the session wrapping up, it was a busy week of committee hearings. The House and Senate education policy committees have been especially busy as they try to hear their priority bills by the March 22 deadline.
The Senate Education Policy Committee has one more week of bill hearings. The committee will release its omnibus policy bill the week of March 18 and pass it out of the committee later that week. The House Education Policy Committee has not given a timeline on its omnibus policy bill, but I believe it is similar to the Senate.
Clarification on school resource officer law passes House
Legislation to clarify the 2023 law that led to uncertainty for school resource officers continues to advance. The House passed the bill on March 4 with no amendments and broad bi-partisan support (124-8). In the Senate, the bill had its last committee stop and is headed for a vote in the Senate soon.
Committee hearings – week of 3/4/2024
The House Education committee also heard several bills the education organizations weighed in on with concerns. They include a bill to add performance measures to WBWF, one to require districts to report specific data on student attendance, and legislation to encourage a 250:1 student-counselor ratio.
The House Education Finance Committee heard from students about their educational experiences and received an overview of the career and technical education consortium grants.
The Senate Education Policy Committee heard legislation to allow smudging in schools, provide for mental health screening, establish state health academic standards, and the PELSB bill regarding teacher licensure.
Bill introductions – week of 3/4/2024
Bill introductions will begin to dwindle as their prospect of advancing are diminished due to the deadlines. We are on track for a record-setting number of bill introductions this biennial cycle - 4,763 bills have been introduced in the House and 4,863 bills have been introduced in the Senate to date. So far, 1,421 bills have been introduced in the House and 1501 bills in the Senate in the past month. This results in a lot of bill tracking and many hearing requests from legislators!
Dates to Remember
Committee Deadlines
- Friday, March 22: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Legislative Recesses
- Easter recess: Begins on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm through Tuesday, April 2 at 12:00 noon
- Eid recess: Begins on Tuesday, April 9 at 5:00 pm through Thursday, April 11 at 12:00 noon
- Passover recess: Monday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 noon
Adjournment:
- Monday, May 20
Legislative Update--Week of February 26, 2024
Updated budget forecast
On Thursday, the Office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the February Forecast. This updated forecast shows a projected $3.7 billion surplus for the FY24-25 biennium, an increase of $1.3 billion from November. This increase is the result of higher-than-expected consumer spending and corporate tax receipts. However, there is a projected structural imbalance in FY 26-27 of $1.4 billion, however it’s not considered a deficit because some of the current surplus could be set aside to address to cover that imbalance.
While the news of the surplus was encouraging, Erin Campbell, MMB Commissioner, cautioned elected officials from enacting ongoing spending this year.
Clarification on school resource officer law continues to advance
Legislation to clarify the 2023 law that led to uncertainty for school resource officers continues to advance both the House and Senate. It will be up for a full vote in the House Monday, March 4. It has one more Senate committee stop (yet to be scheduled) before the full Senate takes up the bill.
Committee hearings – week of 2/26/2024
The House Education Policy Committee heard an overview of the MDE policy bill.
The House Education Finance Committee heard the bill to provide a $10 million to the Building Assets, Reducing Risks Center and legislation to providing funding to support a new apprenticeship program established by the Intermediate School Districts.
The Senate Education Policy Committee heard a bill to establish a special education licensure reciprocity working group.
Bill introductions of note – week of 2/26/2024
**This is not intended to be a complete list of all bills introduced each week but rather a list of bills that are aligned with priorities or include significant policy changes.
HF4361, Modifying provisions for teacher licensure.
SF4188: Modifying hours of instruction requirements; amending the definition of credit; appropriating money.
SF4196: Modifying the early retirement reduction factors for annuity commencement before normal retirement age; increasing employer contributions; increasing pension adjustment revenue for school districts.
SF4325: establishing a skills path program for employment-based training.
Dates to Remember
Committee Deadlines
The House and Senate have adopted two committee deadlines for the 2024 session:
- Friday, March 22: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Legislative Recesses
- Easter recess: Begins on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm through Tuesday, April 2 at 12:00 noon
- Eid recess: Begins on Tuesday, April 9 at 5:00 pm through Thursday, April 11 at 12:00 noon
- Passover recess: Monday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 noon
Adjournment:
- Monday, May 20
Legislative Update--Week of February 19, 2024
Activity is starting to pick up the second week of session as more bills are introduced and committees begin to hear bills to meet the first bill deadline, March 22. However, the first part of this week will be quiet as the legislature takes a pause to allow members to be home in the districts for precinct caucuses on February 27.
On February 28, Minnesota Management and Budget will release an updated budget forecast. This will give the Governor and Legislature updated budget projections and is key to whether supplemental budget proposals advance this session.
Clarification on school resource officer law continues to advance
Legislation to clarify the 2023 law that led to uncertainty for school resource officers continues to advance both the House and Senate. This week it passed out of the Senate Judiciary and House Public Safety Committees and is scheduled for its next committee stop in each body for next week.
Committee hearings – week of 2/19/2024
The House Education Policy Committee heard an overview on the Computer Science Working Group preliminary report and legislation tied to the groups recommendations. The committee also heard legislation to allow districts to award credit based on the student’s mastery of a subject rather than the number of hours of instruction the student has received and legislation to authorize a school to implement four-day school week programs without approval by commissioner of education.
committee heard.
Bill introductions of note – week of 2/19/2024
**This is not intended to be a complete list of all bills introduced each week but rather a list of bills that are aligned with priorities or include significant policy changes.
HF3972, Modifying the early retirement reduction factors for annuity commencement before normal retirement age; increasing employer contributions; increasing pension adjustment revenue for school districts.
SF3804: Waiving the per-credit cost of tuition for student teachers; appropriating money.
SF3974: Providing for parental notice of a student pulled out of the classroom.
SF4107: Strengthening the Increase Teachers of Color Act; making permanent a pilot scholarship program for aspiring teachers of color; establishing a special revenue fund account; appropriating money.
Dates to Remember
Committee Deadlines
The House and Senate have adopted two committee deadlines for the 2024 session:
- Friday, March 22: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Legislative Recesses
- Easter recess: Begins on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm through Tuesday, April 2 at 12:00 noon
- Eid recess: Begins on Tuesday, April 9 at 5:00 pm through Thursday, April 11 at 12:00 noon
- Passover recess: Monday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 noon
Adjournment:
- Monday, May 20
Legislative Update--Week of February 12, 2024
The 2024 legislative session convened on Monday, February 12. Legislators have until Monday, May 20, 2024, to finish their work. Because the legislature passed, and the Governor signed, a two-year budget during the 2023 legislative session, the focus will be on a capital investment bill, policy issues, technical changes, and fixes to last year's budget bills, and a potentially a supplemental budget bill. Note: Minnesota is not required to pass a supplemental budget.
Budget Forecast
In December 2023, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the November forecast that projected a $2.4 billion surplus for FY24-25 but showed a structural imbalance in future fiscal years. However, monthly budget projections indicate an additional $384 million in higher-than-expected revenues for FY24. MMB will release an updated budget forecast February 28. This will give the Governor and Legislature updated budget projections and is key to whether supplemental budget proposals will advance. Note: Minnesota is not required to pass a supplemental budget.
Clarification on school resource officer law kicks off the 2024 session
Legislation to clarify the 2023 law that led to uncertainty for school resource officers began to advance this week in both the House and Senate.
HF3489 (Fraizer)/SF3534 (Westlin) clarifies the use of prone restraint for school resource officers (SROs), establishes training requirements for SROs, policy requirements for law enforcement agencies, and contract requirements for agreements between schools district and law enforcement agencies for providing SROs.