Politics & Government
Minnesota Legislature: New Leadership, New Ways of Doing Things
Republican leaders sped up passage of the major budget bills this session.
New leadership at the Capitol this year has shifted more than the Minnesota Legislature’s ideological bent.
The Republican leadership set an earlier timeline for passing major budget bills this year, and has also shifted the way it accounts for savings in bills, said Rep. Nora Slawik, (DFL—District 55B).
Slawik raised concerns last month that Republicans were assuming cost savings in some of their major omnibus bills that had not been verified by the appropriate state agency or agencies—a practice called fiscal notes.
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“I’ve just never seen a majority in the house operate like this,” said Slawik, who is serving her seventh term.
Another big change is that the houses passed the large omnibus bills—or catch-all bills that include all the provisions related to major areas such as education, health and human services, agriculture, etc.—earlier in the session than usual.
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With the first iteration of the omnibus education bill having passed through the Minnesota House already, Slawik said she’s not sure what will happen to her proposal to allow integration money to be spent on preschool programs, HF771.
The education bill passed by the House cuts integration funding and replaces it with innovation funding, Slawik said. Some districts will be hit financially by the change, but Slawik said District 622 would get about the same amount of funding under the current proposal.
Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:
Rep. Nora Slawik—Co-sponsored a bill that establishes Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposed budget for health and human services. HF1304, introduced March 28.
Rep. Nora Slawik—Co-sponsored a bill that modifies chiropractors’ scope of practice. HF1334, introduced March 30.
Editor's Note: Capitol Review is a weekly look at what your state legislators are doing at the Minnesota Capitol—how they're voting, the bills they're writing and the issues they're getting behind. Come back to Oakdale Patch every Monday for a new Capitol Review.