House Omnibus Education Policy Bill Released.  The House Education Policy Committee released its bill today and it comes in at 101 pages, which is relatively slim considering that a number of provisions in the bill are resurrected measures from last year's vetoed omnibus supplemental appropriations and policy bill.

The major provisions of the bill include:

• Significant changes to the tiered-licensure program adopted by the Legislature in 2017.  Under the bill, a tier one license could only be renewed once among other changes.  The pertinent sections of the bill are found in Article 3, Sections 10 through 29, starting on page 30 of the bill.
• Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies similar to those in last year's vetoed bill found beginning on page 15.
• Lowering of the age for compulsory attendance from seven to six.
• Several of the special education paperwork reduction initiatives that have been discussed this session dealing with conciliation conference requirements and short-term objectives on individual education plans.  The bill also calls for a working group on the prior written notice.

The committee will spend a lot of time over the next few days with the goal of finishing the bill on Thursday, one day before the deadline for policy bills to be heard in committee in the house of origin.

Here is a link to the bill:  HF 1711 Delete-all Amendment (Omnibus Bill Framework)

Great Hearing on Equalization in Senate Education Funding Last Week.  Two different equalization bills were heard in the Senate Education Policy and Funding Committee last week and SEE was well represented at the hearing.  In addition to my usual ramblings on the subject of equalization, expert testimony was provided by Stewartville Superintendent Belinda Selfors and South St. Paul Superintendent Dave Webb.  Both superintendents did a very good job of explaining how low property wealth school districts are at a great disadvantage when going before their voters for operating or debt service levy approval.  

SF 670 is Senator Roger Chamberlain's referendum equalization bill and it takes a different tack than the usual course of equalization bills by looking at tax effort in each tier of the referendum as opposed to using equalizing factors.  It accomplishes much the same purpose as current law and there's certainly no crime in thinking outside the box.

SF 1237 is Senator Nelson's bill that tackles both referendum and debt service equalization.  It stays within the current framework of the law and in the case of the operating referendum it hikes the second tier equalizing factor.  On debt service, it lowers the first tier eligibility threshold and the second tier eligibility threshold.  This makes more debt service revenue eligible to receive equalization aid and increases the rate of equalization for a number of districts.

Here's a picture of Senator Nelson and Superintendents Webb and Selfors taken after the hearing.  Thanks to all:  the Senators for introducing the bills and the superintendents for testifying.

Monday Wrap Up.  There will likely be progress on the MNLARS issue today as the Senate is taking up the bill on the floor this evening.  The big education news of the day took place in the House Education Policy Committee and the release of the Legislative Auditor's report on Debt Service Equalization.  The House Education Policy Committee took up a number of bills related to teachers, including HF 1329, which would dramatically change a number of provisions in the recently-established tiered licensure system.  HF 1559 was also heard.  This bill would raise the training requirements for special education paraprofessionals and fund sixteen hours of training.  It is going to be a very hectic week for the House Education Policy Committee as they wade through a colossal number of bills as the work to meet the March 15 policy committee deadline.

The more exciting news for SEE districts is the release of the evaluation of the Debt Service Equalization Program by the Program Evaluation Division of the Office of the Legislative Auditor.  The report gives an excellent and thorough description of the program and its shortcomings in meeting the current building needs of school districts throughout Minnesota.  Foremost among its recommendations is the suggestion that the current thresholds and equalizing factors for the program be updated to create greater property tax fairness.  Another recommendation looked to explore the differences between the needs of growing districts in need of new construction and districts that need to replace, rather than continue to repair, older buildings.  There are also suggested revisions to the Minnesota Department of Education's Review and Comment process.

Here is a link to the page where the Executive Summary and the complete report can be downloaded:  Debt Service Equalization for School Facilities

Kudos to Jody Hauer as Project Manager and Will Harrison from the Office of the Legislative Auditor on a job well done.  And just in time for the hearing on Senator Carla Nelson's SF 1237 on Wednesday.

I Haven't been Asleep for Quite Twenty Years.  But I guess one could say I have been asleep for twenty blogging years.  February has been an extremely busy month at the Legislature and it will be a while before things calm down.  The deadlines have been set and the first policy committee deadline is set for Friday, March 15.  That means that the next two weeks will feature extended night meetings in a lot of committees.  Things will likely transpire differently between the two houses of the Legislature as it appears that the committees that combine policy and funding in the Senate may only observe the funding bill deadline of April 12.  All this remains to be seen.

One of the things that has contributed to the hubbub is that most of the policy measures that were part of the vetoed omnibus supplemental appropriations and policy bill for 2018 have been re-introduced again in 2019.  When folks talk about the vast number of bills that have been introduced this year when compared to other years, the effect of last year's veto are rarely mentioned.

In the Meantime.  The Equal(ization) has landed!  A number of equalization bills have been introduced.  In the House, Representative John Huot is carrying HF 1143, a bill that would increase the equalizing factors in the first and second tiers of referendum revenue and deliver about $50 million per year in property tax relief to low property wealth school districts.  Representative Brad Tabke is carrying HF 1142, a bill that would simplify the debt service equalization program by creating a single tier of equalization and then setting the equalization rate at the highest level in current law.  As in the case of the referendum equalization, the total cost of the bill is approximately $50 million per year.  Both bills were heard at an House Education Finance Division meeting in Windom on Friday, March 22, and after the hearing were referred back to the House Ways and Means Committee.  From there, they will be referred to the House Tax Committee.  Representative Paul Marquart who chairs the House Tax Committee has pledged to carry any property tax relief related to education in the tax bill.  That's not to say that there will be an increase in any of the equalization programs or the Ag Bond Credit, but if there is, it will not be pitted against increases in education funding programs.

The Senate also has two equalization bills that it will consider.  They are not companions to the House measures, but do deliver considerable levels of property tax relief.  SF 670 was introduced by Senator Roger Chamberlain and delivers around $30 million of property tax relief by providing relief in each of the three tiers of the referendum levy.  Senator Chamberlain is taking a different approach than what has generally been advocated in the past and the distribution of the relief is a bit different than if the bill were to simply adjust the equalizing factors upward, it is still substantial relief.  Senator Carla Nelson has introduced SF 1237, a bill that would deliver approximately $30 million in referendum equalization and $30 million in debt service equalization.  The approach in Senator Nelson's bill is similar to that found in HF 1142 and 1143, although scaled back somewhat.  Both SF 679 and SF 1237 will be heard in the Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee this coming Wednesday (March 6), at 3 PM, in Room 1100 of the Minnesota Senate Building.