House Bill Introductions.  There were 54 bill introductions in the House today with five of the bills being related to education funding.  Two bills--HF 1 (Selcer) and HF 53 (Woodard)--deal with paying back the education aids payment shift.  HF 1 would pay back the shift in this fiscal year and set the aids payment schedule at 90% current year/10% subsequent year.  This would take over $500 million off the table for on-going funding for other state government programs, including the addition of more funding to the education-funding base, which has lost considerable ground to inflation over the past two decades.  HF 53 would require a 60% vote by both bodies of the Legislature before the payment schedule could be altered from the 90%/10% framework outlined in the statutes.

HF 1 Text: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0001.0.html&session=ls88

HF 53 Text:  https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0053.0.html&session=ls88

Other bills included two authored by Representative Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton).  HF 7 would update the PER reporting process and HF 34 would establish a basic-skills test in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics that teaching candidates would have to pass before being granted a license.

HF 7 Text:  https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0007.0.html&session=ls88

HF 34 Text:  https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0034.0.html&session=ls88

The other bill introduced was HF 31, a bill authored by Representative Jerry Newton (DFL-Coon Rapids), would increase the state reimbursement for the school lunch program and provide students who qualify for reduced-price lunch under the current eligibility guidelines a lunch without charge.

HF 31 Text:  https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0031.0.html&session=ls88