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Steve Gottwalt just sent out an email update a few minutes ago on the state of negotiations. I found several things particularly interesting. Let's start with health care:
We just arrived at a compromise agreement on health care reform. Republicans brought back the issue for bi-partisan negotiations after the Governor vetoed a package that included far too much expansion of public programs at huge cost to taxpayers. The new agreement includes expansion of MinnesotaCare to cover another 7,000 people, and private sector tax credits to cover another 5,000.
It includes health care provider cost and quality transparency, and "health care homes" to coordinate care for public enrollees with major chronic conditions. It includes grants for community-based health improvement initiatives, electronic prescriptions ("e-prescriptions"), study of health care worker shortages in the state, and some incremental steps toward payment reforms.
The health care reform agreement also includes a provision I offered earlier this session that gives state licensed health insurance agents a modest "finders fee" to identify and enroll people who are eligible for state health care programs. It's estimated more than half of those who are uninsured in Minnesota are already eligible for public programs, so this common sense measure is a simple, cost-effective approach to getting more people covered. This proposal earned bi-partisan support in committee, and I'm glad negotiators saw fit to include it in thefinal agreement.
All in all, I'd say that that's a decent outcome all things considered. It's good to see Steve's finders fee provision included in the negotiated bill. It's an intelligent way of getting people enrolled that qualify.
The next thing Steve mentioned was property taxes. Here's the latest on what's happening there:
The Governor has compromised significantly on local property tax levy limits. He has offered a generous limit on local levy increases of 3.9 percent (that's well above what our local governments have typically enacted), and no levy limit for public safety expenditures like police and firefighters. In return, the state would give $60 million more in Local Government Aid (LGA), and $25 million in direct property tax relief.
I have always opposed hard levy caps on local governments, so I'm glad to see this flexibility. We're always told that the Legislature "drives up" local property taxes when it cuts or doesn't give enough LGA. So, conversely, if the Legislature increases state aid to local governments, we at least see some limit on the growth of local property taxes. This is a responsible and reasonable compromise, and I hope it succeeds.
Again, this seems like a reasonable compromise considering the numbers that the GOP was facing. It's far from ideal but I can live with it. It appears as though the GOP staved off some terrible education policy:
In the area of Education Policy, we have stood strong and forced removal of terrible provisions, including mandatory "comprehensive sex education" (which includes instruction about anal sex, oral sex and sex for pleasure among teens).
What on God's green earth was the DFL thinking? Thankfully, the GOP stopped these provisions dead in their tracks. Then there's this:
We have also forced negotiation of a supplemental K-12 Finance Bill that gets real money to our students, and does not gut education reforms like QComp in return for one-time money.
Again, I supported an 8 percent increase in K-12 funding last year, while the Democrats supported only 3 percent. This year, as we face a state budget deficit, additional money for our schools needs to come from reprioritizing other state spending, particularly from the massive expansion of human services and welfare programs enacted last year (17 percent increase). This common sense compromise looks likely to happen.
If they can increase K-12 spending while reprioritizing spending elsewhere, I'll be a happy camper.
Finally, it wouldn't be a last minute budget negotiation if Larry Pogemiller didn't attempt to throw a wrench into it:
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis) shifted his position in negotiations several times over the last day or so, seeking increases in welfare. There is bi-partisan frustration, particularly among my colleagues in the House, that Sen. Pogemiller seems to delight in stringing along negotiations to the eleventh hour. We need to stop playing such games, and resolve the remaining issues in the best interests of all Minnesotans.
This is mostly done, I suspect, because of Pogie's utter frustration in dealing with Gov. Pawlenty. It's sad that he's willing to do this out of personal animosity. That's what spoiled brats do. Isn't it time we got some adults in charge?
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