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The separate plans awaiting House and Senate votes both rely heavily on dollars shifted from the state’s checking and savings accounts. But they also bite into payments to hospitals, courts, colleges and many other government programs.
“During a time of economic downturn it is appropriate that we use rainy day funds to help address this budget deficit,” Democratic House Majority Leader Tony Sertich said at the outset of a debate that promised to last into the night. “We cut the budget where necessary.”
Technically, the budget doesn’t have to be fixed until next June. But state leaders don’t want to wait because the choices diminish as time passes and payments go out the door. Already, lawmakers exempted schools, nursing homes and local government aid programs from cuts — taking more than half of the budget off the table.
If the DFL-led Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty fail to get a negotiated deal, the constitution gives the governor the power to make cuts on his own after depleting state reserves.
Pawlenty said Thursday he was bothered by the bills that had taken shape, noting that many ideas he championed fall under the ax.
“Their budget bills are filled with stuff that defunds my priorities,” he said. They are “putting together bills they know are unacceptable to me.”
As an example, both bills squeeze his QComp program that base teacher raises more on performance than seniority.
The bills don’t just deal with money. The House version also would adopt California’s stringent standard for auto emissions, let welfare recipients who have babies get higher payments and ban a plastic used in baby bottles and sippy cups.
The Legislature has until May 19 to complete its work, but there is a growing sense that lawmakers can reach the finish line early for a change. They passed a construction projects bill Wednesday and a sizable transportation finance plan earlier in the year.
“It’s bonding, budget and bye-bye,” said House Republican leader Marty Seifert of Marshall.
At a glance
SENATE
AGRICULTURE: Boosts spending for monitoring for and eradication of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, bison, and farmed cervidae. Another $3.5 million for regulators to buy out cattle herds in disease-affected zones.
COURTS: Makes a 2 percent across-the-board cut to court budgets, which is about half the size of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s recommendation. Increases the court surcharge for criminal and traffic offenders by $3, to $75.
ENERGY: Reduces renewable hydrogen initiatives grants by $2.8 million and shaves $1.5 million for an incentive program for E-85 gas pumps.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Provides incentives for film and TV projects in the state, including $500,000 toward making Minnesota the backdrop of the Coen Brother’s next film, “A Serious Man.” Forgives a portion of a state loan to St. Paul used for construction of the Xcel Energy Center.
HEALTH AND WELFARE: Trims close to $200 million from these programs, but steers clear of shifting money from the Health Care Access Fund. Some payments to providers would be delayed.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Cuts $27.7 million — roughly half of what Pawlenty proposed — from operating budgets at public colleges.
K-12 EDUCATION: Schools would get $35 per student at the expense of earnings from mineral and forest investment funds and a freeze in a merit-based program for teacher pay. The Education Department would issue school report cards based on student progress and college readiness. Statewide testing program takes a $1 million cut.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Raises fees from large-volume water users.
PUBLIC SAFETY/CORRECTIONS: Reduces budgets for state prisons and probation-type programs such as sentence-to-service activities.
RESERVE: $450 million diverted from the state’s checking and savings accounts
STATE GOVERNMENT: Cuts 3 percent to 4 percent from budgets for most agencies, he Legislature and constitutional offices like the governor’s office. Allows state workers up to three days of paid leave to give blood.
VETERANS AFFAIRS: Increases spending for a hotline designed to connect veterans with available benefits, provides for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder testing, and frees up more money from an account fed by “Support Our Troops” license plate sales.
HOUSE
AGRICULTURE: Sends $6 million to northwestern Minnesota to eradicate bovine tuberculosis. Eliminates $310,000 in ethanol producer payments to the bankrupt Gopher State plant.
COURTS: Courts facing their own deficits would be cut about half as much as the governor’s proposal.
ENERGY: Cuts $270,000 for enforcing the do-not-call list. Backs biodiesel and a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions with renewable energy grants. Sets glare-reducing and energy-saving goals for outdoor lighting paid for with public money.
ENVIRONMENT: Trims fish and wildlife, impaired waters and other Department of Natural Resources programs. Sends $450,000 to seven southeastern counties hit by last year’s floods. Sets aside $134,000 to implement California’s disputed auto emissions standard and requires tougher groundwater testing for new landfills, a provision that could block a new landfill in Washington County.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Blanks SEED, Pawlenty’s proposed rural small business development program. Gives the Boxing Commission a new name — the Combative Sports Commission — and jurisdiction over more combat sports. Covers overdraft charges and late fees incurred by unemployed workers whose payments were delayed by state computer glitches.
HEALTH AND WELFARE: Nursing homes would get a 2 percent cost-of-living increase, while the dedicated Health Care Access Fund would be protected for a health care overhaul. Hospitals would bear the brunt of $37 million in cuts. Toughens pool safety standards, allows welfare recipients who have babies to get more money, gives adoptees more access to their birth records and bans baby bottles containing a plastic called Bisphenol-A.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Public colleges would lose about a quarter as much as Pawlenty’s recommendation.
K-12 EDUCATION: Schools get $51 per student at the expense of the QComp performance-based teacher pay system. Minnesota would pull out of the federal No Child Left Behind law by the 2009-2010 school year.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Lets anglers pay $5 to fish with two lines, which is now illegal on open water but not on ice. The fee wouldn’t apply to ice fishing.
PUBLIC SAFETY/CORRECTIONS: Saves counties money by letting sex offenders stay in state prisons while they’re being processed for civil commitment in secure state treatment facilities.
RESERVE: Grabs $250 million from the budget reserve and empties the $350 million cash flow account.
STATE GOVERNMENT: Forces Pawlenty to cut a quarter of his appointees. Lets state employees — including those in same-sex couples — take up to five unpaid days off a year to care for a member of their household. Backs up Republican National Convention organizers with a $14 million fundraising guarantee.
TAXES: Tightens taxation of companies with foreign operations and foreign royalties.
VETERANS AFFAIRS: Offers interest-free loans to businesses hurt by the deployment of employees who are military reservists. Beefs up funding for support programs including the State Soldiers Assistance Program.
