A Quiet Friday. It was a quiet Friday on the E-12 front and it wasn't particularly raucous anywhere at the Legislature. The day was rather perfunctory, with a few minor bills and conference committees receiving final passage.

Saturday promises to be another story. A number of major funding bills are still hanging, including the E-12 bill (and rumor has it that the bill is not being universally well received by the House DFLers, putting its eventual passage there in question). The Governor receives very little in way of his initiatives in the current version of the bill and certainly wants at least a few of them. The trouble, of course, is money (or the lack thereof) and the main legislative negotiators are trying to make the Governor "buy" his programs with "his own money." So, stay tuned.

The health insurance bill will come up on the Senate floor tomorrow and it appears that either the Scheid amendment (which is on the Senate bill that was sent to the House) or the Loeffler amendment (which is on the House bill that was sent to the Senate yesterday) will be on the bill when the Senate passes it tomorrow. These amendments provide vital protections for school districts as the mandatory statewide health insurance pool is developed and, perhaps, implemented and these protections must remain in the bill. So, a phone call or two couldn't hurt.

I will be updating the blog several times tomorrow, as things are bound to start happening. Maybe bound is too bold a prediction, but things should be shaking tomorrow.

Again, call with questions or comments.