A look at how the 2018 session ended

With the 2018 session all wrapped up, take a look at where LeadMN’s legislation ended.

Minnesota session completed

The 2018 legislative session came to an end during the final minutes of May 20, 2018. Among the final bills the legislature completed and sent to Governor Dayton, were a supplemental budget bill, unofficially named “Omnibus Prime” due to its 990-page length, and a bonding bill that authorizes $1.5 billion in construction. Governor Dayton ultimately chose to veto “Omnibus Prime” which among it’s many policy provisions contained LeadMN’s affordable textbook plan legislation.

Due to your advocacy efforts this session, we were successful in getting our affordable textbook legislation included in the final supplemental budget bill. While it is disappointing that our legislation did not survive the end of session, we believe that students should have access to more affordable course materials, and know exactly what costs they are going to be incurring before they sign up for a class. LeadMN plans to continue advocating for solutions to address these issues. As we move into election season, the focus of legislators will now shift to campaigning, so the odds of a special session are next to impossible, but Minnesota politics has proven to be a wildly unpredictable ride.

Bonding Bill

The other major bill this session was the bonding bill, which Governor Dayton recently signed into law. For Minnesota State, this bonding bill helps fund ten capital projects, and $45 million in Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) funds. While these funds are not the full amount requested by Minnesota State, they will provide critical dollars that will help maintain our campuses and provide facilities that are necessary to a twenty-first century education.

Find out more about the bonding bill.

Higher Education Act Reauthorization

While our state legislators have wrapped up for the year, we can’t forget that folks in Congress continue their work. Earlier this year there was hope that the Senate would put together their version of the Higher Education Act Reauthorization—the collection of laws governing higher education in the United States—but it may now become another casualty of the never ending political battle on capitol hill.

Recently Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, announced that the committee would not produce legislation this year. While there had been signs of common ground between Republicans and Democrats on the committee on issues like FAFSA and financial aid simplification, the differences on how to address these issues, or election year politics, may be proving too big of a hurdle to overcome. While the Senate appears to have stalled on this work, the House version of the Higher Education Act Reauthorization known as PROPSER may see a vote some time this summer.

As always, if you have any questions about LeadMN’s advocacy and legislative work, contact LeadMN Director of Government Relations Matt Gutsch at mgutsch@leadmn.org.