Special Session Update.  The Special Session isn't quite put to bed yet, but HF 1 (they start the numbers from the beginning with the special session)--the omnibus education funding and policy bill--passed both houses of the the Legislature quite comfortably today on votes of 115-10 in the House and 53-12 in the Senate.  The bill the passed was nearly identical to the bill that passed the Legislature during the regular session with $125 million in new money added to the target to bring the total spending in the bill to $525 million.  Here is a summary of the funding changes.

Provision	SS	CC	Difference
Basic Formula	$346,312	$283,250	$63,062
Owatonna Referendum Fix	$295	$0	$295
English Language	$3,102	$0	$3,102
Non-Public Aid	$369	$335	$34
Non-Public Transportation	$988	$896	$92
Compensatory Pilots	$10,000	$0	$10,000
Tribal Contract	$5,000	$0	$5,000
Indian Education Formula Aid	$16,743	$7,239	$9,504
Early Leaning Scholarships	$48,250	$30,750	$17,500
ECFE	$2,806	$2,558	$248
Headstart	$10,000	$0	$10,000
Northside Achievement Zone	$2,000	$0	$2,000
St. Paul Promise	$2,000	$0	$2,000
Education Partnership Pilots	$1,002	$0	$1,002
English Language LEAPS	$1,161	$0	$1,161
Dollars are in thousands.			$125,000