MN Legislative briefs
04/19/2006
Last update: April 19, 2006 – 12:08 AM
A major state government finance bill was tabled for future action by the Minnesota House Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, legislators approved several notable amendments to the original proposal.
House adopts bill to avoid shutdown
State government appropriations would roll over into a new fiscal biennium in the event of another budget impasse, but legislators would have to work without pay until agreement was reached, under a bill approved Tuesday by the House.
“This is the most direct way of avoiding a government shutdown,” said Rep. Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover, after her initiative was adopted as an amendment to the House state government finance bill. The vote was 76 to 56.
Such provisions for “continuing appropriations” are common in other states but do not exist in Minnesota law. Without it, parts of state government shut down for nine days last July, idling about 9,000 workers until a legislative budget deal was reached.
Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, offered a second amendment to dock legislators’ pay if they don’t set the budget by July 1 of odd-numbered years, the beginning of each two-year fiscal period. It also was approved.
So far, similar legislation, sometimes dubbed “lights-on,” has not advanced in the Senate. But Tingelstad gave the bill “a decent chance” of enactment this year.
- CONRAD DEFIEBRE
Health insurance pool for school districts
A statewide health insurance pool for most Minnesota school districts would be established under a bill approved Tuesday by the House.
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, said he has worked for six years to find relief for small outstate school districts that struggle to provide health care for their employees. A few no longer offer health insurance, he said. Many others have been hit with steep premium increases because of the effect that a single catastrophic illness can have on a small insurance pool.
About 25 of the state’s largest school districts, including Minneapolis, St. Paul and many suburban districts, could stay out of the pool under an exemption for districts with more than 400 teachers.
Davids’ amendment was attached to the House state government finance bill by a vote of 80 to 54, carried mostly by DFL support. The Senate passed similar legislation last week, without an exemption for large districts.
CONRAD DEFIEBRE
Raising legal age for gambling favored
Reacting to concerns about gambling by high school seniors, the House Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of raising the legal gambling age from 18 to 19 for horse racing, the lottery and pulltabs.
But the higher age limit would become effective only if all 11 tribal governments agreed to impose it in their casinos, and it was not immediately clear what they would do if faced with the decision.
“I think there are some tribes that might consider it,” said John McCarthy, executive director of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, which represents most casinos in the state. “I don’t think anybody is getting rich off of 18-year-olds.”
The House voted 107 to 26 in favor of the higher age limit on an amendment to a bill financing state government. The Senate hasn’t approved an age increase. There have been previous attempts in the Legislature to raise the gambling age to 21.
“Let’s get gambling out of the high schools,” said Rep. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo Township.
Anderson cited other states where legislators have raised the gambling age limit or are considering it in urging House members to do likewise.
While the 19-year-old age limit would apply to pulltabs and other games played mostly in bars, the effect would be limited because the legal drinking age is already higher.
In other legislation Tuesday, the House rejected a bid to ask voters in the November election whether they want to authorize casino gambling at the Canterbury Park horse racing track in Shakopee and at a future harness racing track in Anoka County. The proposal gave the Legislature final approval over authorizing casino gambling at tracks.
PAT DOYLE