Minnesota legislators resumed the 2015 session Tuesday with a full plate and six weeks remaining. Gov. Mark Dayton’s ambitious education and transportation spending proposals face serious challenges from the radically different priorities of the Republican-led House.

The Governor gave his annual State of the State address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate on Thursday evening. His top priorities are “Everything.” Items include closing the achievement gap, buffer zones for better water quality, completion of the Capitol restoration, more funding for the Judicial system and tougher penalties for poachers. The two top priorities are spending an additional $695 million on K-12 with pre-K for 4 year olds and spending more tax dollars on aging and inadequate roads, bridges and public transit.

Comments from the four legislative leaders noted that this speech was late in the session and did not provide any surprises. The Legislature already has the Governor’s proposals and budget.

Bonding Bill

Gov. Dayton proposed a $842 million bonding bill Tuesday which seeks to fund construction projects and create jobs across the state.  House Republicans have said they don’t have plans to propose a bonding bill this year. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) said Democrats in the Minnesota Senate aren’t planning for one either since the State Constitution requires bonding bills to originate in the House. However, Majority Leader Bakk said he wants to be prepared, just in case House Republicans change their minds, so the Senate is working on a small bonding bill focused on projects such as waste water infrastructure, housing or local roads and bridges.

The project list includes $200 million for college campus improvements, $78 million for railroad safety projects, $20 million for added renovations to the State Capitol, and $48 million to complete work on the Lewis and Clark water system in southwest Minnesota.

The Legislature traditionally considers bonding bills in the second year of a legislative session after focusing on the State budget during the first year. House Republicans have said repeatedly that they want to wait until 2016 to consider a bonding bill. House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) said the projects in the Governor’s proposal will be discussed next session after proper committee vetting. He said interest rates should still be favorable then.

Gov. Dayton dismissed the notion that public works bills should be reserved for even-year sessions. He said there have been bonding bills passed in 31 of the past 32 years.

Health and Human Services Budget Battle

House Republican’s recently unveiled a budget plan featuring a $2 billion tax cut and more education and transportation spending. To balance it, they are proposing slashing health and human services.

Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood), Chair of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee, has given some insight into his priorities. He has proposed eliminating the current MinnesotaCare program and directing the 95,000 people in the program to buy private insurance. He’s also suggested that there are ineligible people on MinnesotaCare, Medicaid and other taxpayer subsidized programs and wants to see better verification of eligibility. House Republicans have pledged to increase spending in one part of the HHS budget, putting about $160 million more into nursing homes.

Democrats say there’s no way Republicans can cut more than a billion dollars from health and human services without cutting needed services for the elderly, the poor and the sick. Senate Democrats are proposing to increase spending on health and human services by $341 million. Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL-Kerrick), Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Finance Committee, expressed difficulty in understanding making such cuts when the State has a surplus.

MHA

The Minnesota Hospital Association has launched a website and petition in protest of a proposed $1 billion cut to health care programs by House Republicans.

Project Minnesota Health Care says the cuts would “have a big impact on our State’s quality of life. Without adequate funding, the ability for Minnesota’s hospitals to serve some of the sickest and most vulnerable people in our communities is at stake.”

The proposed Republican budget increases health and human services spending over current spending, but it doesn’t cover projected demand for services in the coming biennium. So far, House Republicans have given few details about the cuts.

But nearly $900 million in savings could come from requiring MinnesotaCare enrollees to buy private health insurance on the State’s insurance exchange. The Minnesota Hospital Association says eliminating MinnesotaCare could mean more expensive emergency room visits for some people.

Sunday Sales

On Wednesday, two proposals to address the prohibition on Sunday liquor sales got their first hearing this year, in the House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee, and the “informational” tag on the gathering means no votes will be taken. One proposal seeks to lift the Sunday ban altogether, while another would allow local governments to choose whether liquor stores could sell liquor on Sundays.

Politically, the issue unites residents with polling consistently showing overwhelming support for lifting the ban. And yet, year after year lawmakers introduce and then kill any prospects of repealing the state’s so-called blue law.

Leading the opposition to the bill is the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA), which is made up of independent liquor stores around the state. They argue Sunday liquor sales bill won’t increase business, but will simply spread profits over seven days instead of six. The Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association, representing most of the state’s city-owned liquor stores, the Minnesota Beer Wholesalers Association, and the Teamsters Joint Council 32 are also among the ranks of those opposed to Sunday liquor sales. The teamsters recently changed their position on the sale of growlers, but they are still opposed to Sunday alcohol sales. The unions are concerned that the law would open up their labor contracts with liquor establishments, a possibility that has kept many powerful Democrats from supporting Sunday sales.

The Minnesota Beer Activists and the Minnesota Consumers First Alliance have tried to make the issue more public, showing up with groups of supporters at hearings to testify in favor of Sunday sales and pushing online ad campaigns. In mid-March, the beer activists organized a Sunday booze run to Wisconsin, starting at the State Capitol, to protest the current law.

This year, Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie) and Sen. Roger Reinert (DFL-Duluth) are leading the charge to repeal the ban. Both authors of the Sunday liquor sales bills have acknowledged that Sunday sales would fail if it were put up to a vote right now. Senate Commerce Chairman Metzen is opposed to the measure — and no hearing has been scheduled at all. House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Hoppe didn’t include Sunday sales in his broader “omnibus” liquor bill because it was too controversial. The next option for supporters is to move the proposal as an amendment to the larger liquor bill on the House floor. If an amendment is successful in the House, supporters in the Senate can try to open up the debate on the floor.

Republican House Speaker Daudt supports the bill and DFL Gov. Dayton has indicated he would sign a Sunday liquor sales bill if it landed on his desk. Senate DFL Majority Leader Bakk opposes the measure, which has made it hard for the bill to move in his chamber.