2012 Legislative Kick-Off

Realities, Rumors and ReactionsJanuary 21, 2012

Overarching 2012 issues

• A surplus that isn’t a surplus• Redistricting expected decision February 21• Reform 2.0• Citizens United/Super PACS– ALEC American Legislative Exchange Council

Constitutional Amendments (Electoral Red Meat)

• Potential tax amendments• Voter ID• Gay Marriage amendment (on ballot)

Tax amendments

• Supermajority Amendment – HF1598 passed Taxes now in Ways and Means (31 authors)– SF1384 referred to taxes (1 author)

• 98% Amendment– HF1661 referred to Ways and Means (8 authors)– SF1378 referred to Taxes (5 authors including tax chair)

• Limit Spending to Biennium Revenue Amendment – HF1612 1612 (12 authors)– SF1364 (1 author-Tax chair)

Legislature needs to deal with:

GRAD Graduate Required Assessments for

Diploma

Potential Issues

• Funding– Levy elections in even years– Levy following student – Education Funding Working Group report, special

ed funding – Autonomy for school boards (levy renewal

elections, timing of elections)

Also look for

• Mayoral takeover of schools• Teacher eval, pay for performance, teacher layoffs based on

performance • ESEA (NCLB) waiver• Prone restraint and special education mandate reduction• Vouchers or voucher lite• Integration aid and policy• Bullying• School calendar• On-Line learning

Also Watching

• ESEA (NCLB) waiver decision (soon) • Integration Aid Task force (spring 2012)• Bullying Task Force (summer 2012)• Common Core Standards• Early childhood RTTT grant

Remember

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS

Important dates

• January 24 opening• February 2-7 recess• April 9-13 recess• April 30 sine die

What can you count on from Parents United

• Up-to-the minute Website• Weekly Updates• Brown Bag Phone Updates—Mondays at noon• Wonkshops-– Supermajority January 23 Noon– February 6 caucuses

• Boot Camp Forest Lake February 11• Friendraisers and fundrasiers

April 16 Parent Summit “Minnesota by the Numbers”

Tom Stinson, State EconomistTom Gillaspy, State Demographer

Let’s consider

• Realities of the state budget • What’s been happening in 2008, 2009,

2010?• Implications of the 2010 election• Crystal ball for the 2011 session

How is the state budget used?

How is the state’s general fund spent

Changes in state budget expenditures

Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) on the current state deficit

Just how big is the MN Budget Deficit? If we...• Cut all kids from health care ($139 million) and • Eliminate all cash welfare ($145 million) and • Shut down 20% of nursing homes ($191 million) and • Cut salaries 10% for all branches of government ($225 million) and • Eliminate all Local Government Aid ($1 billion) and • Close all the state parks ($52 million) and • Eliminate House and Senate per diem ($4.2 million) and • Shut down 10 State College campuses ($146 million) and • Cut all state government operations by 50% (1.75 billion)AND ADD IT ALL UP: It only reaches $3.6 billion of the $5.4 billion projected deficit!

Based on House Research Estimates of 2009 spending levels.

Long term deficitsShort term fixes

• 2008 Legislative Session– $935 million budget deficit– 60% 1X solution

• 2009 Legislative Session – $6.4 billion budget deficit– 80 one time solution

• 2010 Legislative Session– $4.3 billion budget deficit– 50% school payment shift

Choices have consequences Mn Budget Project

Price of Government

16.517.2 17.3

17.9 17.6 17.6 17.5 17.4

15.9 16.2 15.9 15.815.4 15.6 15.8

16.5 16.416

15.5

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

Fiscal Year

Perc

ent o

f Inc

ome

Minnesota passed significant tax cuts and rebates in the late 1990s, led to a decline in state/local government’s share of personal income

Minnesota Supreme Court, Skeen v. State of Minnesota, August 20, 1993

…education is a fundamental right in Minnesota. However, the current system of state educational finance satisfies that fundamental right, particularly where all plaintiff districts are provided with an adequate level of education which meets or exceeds the state’s basic educational requirements and where the districts are given sufficient funding to meet their basic needs…

…our decision …requires the state to provide enough funds to ensure that each student receives an adequate education and that funds are distributed in a uniform manner…

…the State of Minnesota provides an adequate and uniform education which meets all state standards. It merely allows localities to augment this basic amount…

…the determination of education finance policy, in the absence of glaring disparities, must be a legislative decision because it involves balancing the competing interests of equality, efficiency, and limited local control…

% Change in General Revenue per ADM FY2003-2010 Minus Referendum and Adjusted for CPI

Source: MDE

The Basic Formula Has Not Kept Up With Inflation

SPECIAL EDUCATION CROSS SUBSIDIES

520

685

724

550520

554

507

599

462

426397

367345347352

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

FY1999

FY2000

FY2001

FY2002

FY2003

FY2004

FY2005

FY2006

FY2007

FY2008

FY2009

FY2010

FY2011

FY2012

FY2013

$ M

illi

on

s

Source: MDE

Leadership

• Governor Mark Dayton• Dr. Brenda Cassellius• Chair Rep. Garofalo/Minority Lead Greiling• Chair Rep. Erickson/Minority Lead Mariani• Chair Sen. Olson/Minority Lead Bonoff

2011 Education Policy

• Closing the achievement gap• Alternative pathways to teacher licensure• Tenure, “value-add”, teacher effectiveness

and evaluation• Pay for performance• Local control

2011 Education Funding issues

• Stable, equitable funding formula• Paying back the shift• Levy caps• Discretionary levy authority for renewals• Use of categorical aids esp. integration aid• 2% set aside• Jan. 15 deadline

Other Education Organizations

• MSBA• MASA• SEE• AMSD

And then there is… Redistricting

What Parents United is doing• Monitoring all education committees• Tracking and analyzing proposed legislation and providing this information in

weekly updates• Collaborating with other education advocacy groups• Individual meetings with legislators on education committees• Keeping the website current with articles, events and Capitol hearing

schedules• Working with parent groups/hosting events/sitting on statewide committees• Presentations/ Boot Camps• Building relationships with the Governor’s office, MDE, majority and

minority leadership and foundations• Keeping the parent perspective in front of policymakers and keeping that

perspective relevant

But..We Can’t Do it Alone1. Follow Mary's tweets 2. Sign on to receive Parents United weekly Legislative Updates weekly during the session3. Read and respond to the updates and action alerts; send them on—grow the group 4. Become a friend of Parents United on Facebook

5. Plug the phone numbers for the Governor's office and your State Representative and Senator into your cell phone 6. Create an email group for your elected officials, bookmark the contact page for those without direct email