Education Provisions Discussed.  It was a fairly quiet day at the Legislature, with only a couple of education matters surfacing.  The conference committee on HF 3172 went through the education provisions of the omnibus supplemental appropriations bill.  There was very little discussion of the provisions by the conference committee members as staff provided a thorough description of the various funding and policy initiatives contained in the bill.  Action in earnest will begin at the meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, when provisions deemed to be the same in each bill are slated to be adopted.

Education Policy Conferees Named.  A bill that has been flying somewhat below the radar is HF 2397, the omnibus education policy bill.  The House and Senate conferees for the bill have been named and are as follows:

House:  Representatives Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul), Kathy Brynaert (DFL-Mankato), Barb Yarusso (DFL-Shoreview), Mary Sawatsky (DFL-Willmar) and Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City).

Senate:  Senators Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis), Greg Clausen (DFL-Apple Valley), Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield), Alice Johnson (DFL-Spring Lake Park), and Carla Nelson (R-Rochester)

In conversations with legislators, it is unclear when the conference committee will begin, but there are not a lot of provisions in either bill that would be considered unduly controversial, meaning that the proceedings may go quickly once the conference committee begins its work.