House Minority Leader sees red flags for Marshall in Pawlenty’s proposed budget

02/10/2005

By Rae Kruger
Independent Staff Writer

MARSHALL ¯ House Minority Leader Rep. Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, flew to Marshall on Wednesday to talk about a few things that trouble him concerning Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposed budget and the start of the legislative session.

While the Senate has passed a bonding bill, there has been little or no progress in the House, because Republicans are stalling on the issue, Entenza said.
Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on a transportation bonding bill three weeks ago, Entenza said.

The House needs to pass a bonding bill so that much needed work can get started and/or completed this year, Entenza said.

Instead, Entenza believes House Republicans are stalling because they want to use a bonding bill as leverage during discussions about a budget.

“They are going to have tremendous difficulty passing a very bad budget,” Entenza said.
Entenza highlighted what he said were some major bad points of Pawlenty’s budget.

“One of the most disappointing things is that once again Marshall area schools won’t have enough funding to even meet inflation,” Entenza said.

While Pawlenty touts increase in education funding, he fails to say that the overall increase is less than inflation and he’s taking money from one area to cover another area, Entenza said.

Pawlenty has proposed eliminating the weighted per pupil definition of students. High school students would no longer be classified as 1.3 pupil units for funding purposes.
The weighted formula started in the 1950s because it’s generally believed that to offer advanced and other classes to high school students it costs districts more money than for elementary students.

In Marshall and other rural schools, that will mean cutting language courses and other programs, Entenza said.

“Most rural schools that are trying to offer two languages will cut that down to one,” Entenza said.

On the flip side, a district like Edina offers eight languages and many of them for three years, Entenza said.

Rural districts aren’t as property rich as Edina but they will be asked to place more burden on local taxpayers to pay for education under Pawlenty’s budget, Entenza said.
And it’s not just pre-K education Entenza is worried about.

“Higher education is one of the biggest concerns, particularly in Marshall,” Entenza said. “The governor still didn’t begin to fund the enrollment increases.”

Enrollment has increased at many state universities, including Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

Pawlenty’s budget doesn’t increase funding to help with costs associated with more students on campus, Entenza said.

Consequently, students will face another year of double digit tuition increases as they did last year, Entenza said.

Tuitions will increase at the same time the governor has proposed a University of Minnesota campus in Rochester, Entenza said.

“He’s identified a real need in Rochester,” Entenza said. Pawlenty’s suggestion to establish a university in Rochester is valid, but not at the expense of other universities, Entenza said.

“(Meanwhile) other state campuses are bleeding,” Entenza said.

Pawlenty’s budget is ignoring a cornerstone of economic development in southwestern Minnesota by underfunding pre-K-12 education and higher education, Entenza said.
Companies such as the Schwan Food Co. and other private and public entities have also made it clear that transportation is a key issue in the region, Entenza said.

The governor’s attitude toward rural transportation needs is “unsettling,” Entenza said. And, Entenza said, counties have deferred maintenance on roads because of lack of funding.
State projects are not pursued because of inadequate funding, Entenza said.

Pawlenty’s plan is to borrow to pay for transportation projects, but Entenza said that’s short-sighted. A better long-term solution is needed, he said.

One idea is to increase the gas tax used for transportation funding.

“Even Republican leader Dick Day has come out in support of a gas tax increase,” Entenza said.

Although Entenza has concerns about Pawlenty’s budget, he wasn’t ready yet to offer counter solutions, he said.

Democrat leaders will be traveling the state the next few weeks to gather information on budget issues and concerns they will use to form their own state budget, Entenza said.
The House Democrats will form their budget knowing cuts are a must, he said.

“Obviously, with a deficit this big, we (Democrats) know there is going to be cuts,” Entenza said.

Yet, along with the cuts it is important to make sure the state adequately funds the key areas such as education and transportation, Entenza said.