2010 Session Summary

No tax increase and priorities are protected

The budget deal enacted the Governor’s 2009 unallotments on a one-time basis, and ratified the $1.8 billion K-12 aid payment shift that will begin to be paid back beginning in 2011.  As part of the plan, Pawlenty agreed to approve legislation authorizing the current or next governor to have the state opt in to an early expansion of Medicaid enrollment.  There is also $10 million in extra funding for General Assistance Medical Care, but no surcharges on health care providers.  A potential $408 million in enhanced Medicaid match funds that the DFL had been counting on will be used to bolster the state’s cash flow.  Most lawmakers were pleased that it also guarded against nursing home and further public safety cuts.

Education reforms fail

Left until the final hours of the legislative session, second-round application for Race to the Top federal education grant money was jeopardized by the DFL’s failure to pass certain reforms which were required by the grant criteria, including alternative teacher licensure; linking student achievement data to teacher effectiveness, tenure and pay; implementing statewide teacher and principal evaluation systems; and the ability to dismiss educators shown to be ineffective according to defined criteria.  A recent KSTP-TV/SurveyUSA poll showed 74 percent support performance pay for Minnesota teachers.

Green acres changes enacted

A provision extending the deadline for voluntary withdrawals from the Green Acres program without payment of back taxes was passed and signed into law just before Easter break.  The deadline for voluntary withdrawal was extended to August 16, 2010 (previously May 2, 2010). If you choose to participate in the voluntary withdrawal prior to August 16, 2010 — avoiding three years of back taxes — your property would be subjected to “regular” property tax valuation for taxes payable in 2011.  Several times during session, I offered an amendment which would have repealed all the changes to Green Acres and restored the language of the law to the pre-2008 changes.  All failed on close votes.