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Last OT period?
'The end is near':
Week three of overtime is here, and leaders expect it to be the last
one.
Lawmakers tell FOX 9 a special session could happen as soon as
Wednesday.
Leaders still have some heavy lifting to do in their policy
negotiations, but there's an agreement now on the money in every bill,
and the details are starting to become public.
For example, the health bill isn't written out yet, but a spreadsheet
includes major cuts to Minn-Care, which matches an agreement to remove undocumented adults from the program.
School funding choices
Steady for now:
The biggest slice of Minnesota's budget pie is essentially done and
Democrats protected some of the changes they made during their trifecta
two years ago.
"An education formula that is still indexed to inflation," said Rep.
Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins). "And a bill that does not repeal
unemployment insurance for our hourly, valuable hourly workers."
But Republicans warn this budget could serve as a canary in a coal mine.
It leaves funding steady for the next two years - without cuts even to
private schools, as the governor had suggested.
Canary in coal mine
Cuts coming:
But in the next budget, this agreement calls for $420 million in cuts
that will undoubtedly hit school districts hard.
"You look at the declining enrollment, you look at the special ed costs
coming up," said Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls). "I hope that people
and school boards and superintendents and teachers alike are looking at
this going how are we going to mitigate the risks that are in front of
us."
Some of the cuts are already laid out - including $48 million in
transportation funding for special ed students.
"I know the decisions around what programs would receive reductions was
not easy," said Education Commissioner Willie Jett. "The hardest one was
in special education."
Decisions delayed
Blue Ribbon scalpel:
Jett will head up a Blue Ribbon commission to chop another $250 million
from special education, almost 10% of the entire special ed budget for
2028-29.
What's left?:
And at least one policy issue may still be up in the air.
"If any of you have strong opinions either for or against them,
seclusion rooms are that issue if you will," said Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie). "We're still working on it."
The expansion of seclusion rooms that passed in the Senate is not in the
fully written education bill, but working group members tell us it's
possible this isn't the final version of the bill that'll be up for a
vote during the special session.
https://www.fox9.com/news/mn-lawmakers-overtime-period-budget-deals-mater ialize-may-2025
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