Minnesota Legislature
Big funding bumps for scholarships, Minnesota State system included in higher education omnibus
By Rob Hubbard
The cost of college may go down for many Minnesotans if funding goes up in the manner proposed in the omnibus higher education finance bill.
On Tuesday, the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee began discussing proposed changes for the 2024-25 biennium in a delete-all amendment to HF2073, a bill sponsored by the committee chair, Rep. Gene Pelowski, Jr. (DFL-Winona).
The $4.16 billion bill would increase higher education funding by $650 million, or 18.5%, in the next biennium. The chief beneficiary would be the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, which would receive $1.91 billion, an increase in funding of $331.4 million, or 21%. The system sought an increase of $350 million.
The University of Minnesota’s funding would rise by $193.7 million, or 14%, to $1.58 billion for the biennium. It had asked for $205 million. And scholarship programs administered by the Office of Higher Education would see a 22.7% bump to $669.4 million, an increase of $124 million.
Recent Dailies
House bill would mandate smaller K-12 class sizes, boost funding formula
By Steve Abrams
Class sizes in Minnesota schools are spiraling out of control, parents and educators say. Classrooms of 30 or 35 students are becoming increasingly common, impairing educational...
House elections committee approves expanded use of ranked-choice voting
By Rob Hubbard
What can be done about the divide? Political polarization has been an area of concern for several years. Is ranked-choice voting the answer? Does it inspire candidates to build ...
More than $60 million proposed to support statewide historic, cultural preservation projects
By Tessa Pieper We can easily lose the history we don’t record. That’s why HF2566 would appropriate $63.75 million in the 2024-25 biennium from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to the Mi...Transportation bill could update license fee collection, distribution in effort to better match customer needs
By Margaret Stevens Changing technology, COVID-19 and the advent of REAL ID have changed the way driver’s licenses and identification cards are issued. The fee structure and how those fees are allo...House lawmakers OK bill to help people retrieve property from towed vehicles
By Margaret Stevens At a minimum, having a vehicle towed is an inconvenience. However, for people without a permanent address, losing that access could also mean losing everything they own – winter...House passes $50 million in funding for homeless prevention program
By Tessa Pieper
What was requested initially ended up being cut in half. Still, it would help provide a roof over the head of many Minnesotans.
Originally, Rep. Michael Howard (DFL-Richfiel...
Bill would direct health department to analyze costs, benefits of universal health coverage
By Tessa Pieper Americans pay more to die sooner. We pay an average of $12,318 per person on health care annually, yet our life expectancy is only 76.1 years. Whereas other comparatively we...Lawmakers hear plan to fund, provide American Indian education to all Minnesota students
By Steve Abrams
Education for and about Indigenous Minnesotans has been lackluster for years, say advocates who’ve long pushed the Legislature to make improvements in curriculum and investments...
Scholarship program proposed to address Minnesota’s persistent police staffing shortage
By Rob Hubbard Police forces are shrinking, and Rep. Dan Wolgamott (DFL-St. Cloud) would like to do something about that. “Our law enforcement agencies are experiencing dire workforce shor...Committee OKs $40 million to replenish the state’s disaster contingency account ahead of spring flood season
By Tim Walker
Spring is a time of rebirth, and a time to replenish our northern souls after a long winter.
It’s also the time to replenish the state’s disaster assistance contingency acco...
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Walz, legislative leaders announce budget targets for 2023 session
By Jonathan Mohr
With the session’s final committee deadline exactly two weeks away, legislative leaders announced an agreement Tuesday on how much new money they plan to spend in 2023 and the f...
Gov. Walz's proposed budget largest in state history, includes $8 billion in tax cuts
By Steve Abrams
Make Minnesota the best state in our country for kids to grow up.
It’s a lofty goal but that was Gov. Tim Walz’ mantra Tuesday during the unveiling of his proposed budget fo...
