MN Education bill provides big increases

03/30/2007

Education at all levels would get a hefty boost in funding under a bill approved by a key Senate committee. But an income tax plan to raise the money faces a veto threat from the governor.


By Norman Draper, and PATRICIA LOPEZ
Star Tribune
Last update: March 29, 2007


A bulked-up education bill with big funding increases for basic K-12 education, a boost for early childhood programs and money to rein in college costs passed a key committee on Thursday, but without a way to pay for it.
The money will come today, when the Senate Taxes Committee is expected to add to the bill a roughly $900 million income tax increase over two years.

The education bill, the second one the Senate has taken up in a week, would add $444 million in new spending over the next two years and more than $350 million in each of the two following years.

To maintain a balanced budget, the bill will require a hefty general tax increase, DFL leaders said on Thursday.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch," said Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, assistant majority leader. "To make these kinds of strategic investments, we need money."

Schools were already scheduled to get $498 million more under an education appropriation bill that passed the Senate on Monday, but that was considered bare-bones funding that left nothing for basic increases to school districts and early childhood education, a DFL Senate priority.

The new K-12 money would be available for school districts to use at their discretion for things such as salaries, class-size reduction, programs or supplies, depending on their needs.

The exact form of the income tax proposal had not been determined Thursday, but Clark said that whatever is approved would be large enough to cover the new spending.

DFL senators were evenly divided on raising taxes only on the wealthiest Minnesotans or raising income tax rates in every bracket.

No surprise

Republicans said that the bigger education bill funded by increased taxes comes as no surprise and that they never expected the smaller spending bills proposed earlier to be the DFLers' final plan.

"We knew it was coming when [the DFLers'] spending bills were coming in [lower than] the governor's," said Sen. Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista, the ranking Republican on the Early Education-12 Education Budget Division.

The previous E-12 bill had funneled virtually all of its funding increases into paying off enormous special-education debts that have been mounting for schools. Thursday's bill would add 2 percent a year to the basic education funding that goes to every school district.

Education advocates applauded the legislation.

"It's nice to see they're rounding out this bill," said Brad Lundell, executive director of Schools for Equity in Education, which represents some of the metro area's largest suburban school districts, as well as a number of outstate districts. "We're supportive, even if it takes a tax increase."

The bill also adds $56 million for preschool education, which has been a priority for children's advocates and legislators.

The bill faces a veto threat from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has said he will not sign any spending bill with a tax increase attached to it.

"We've got a long way to go before this goes to the governor," Clark said. "If his only strategy is to say, 'no, no, no,' that's not a form of negotiating."

Tuition aid, too

Both the Senate and the House have now proposed significant increases to basic funding for Minnesota schools, and have also dedicated money to easing college costs for students.

"We've been listening to students and we've been listening to parents, and tuition is their big concern," said Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, chairwoman of the Higher Education Budget and Policy Division. "In this bill there are $93 million in additional dollars, and the goal is to hold down tuition."

The idea, Pappas said, would be to keep increases to 3 percent for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and 5 percent for the University of Minnesota.

Thursday's education bill would bring total new Senate spending on early education through high school to $849 million over two years. Higher-education funding would rise by a total of $389 million for 2008-09.