End of Regular Session Report

The Legislature adjourned the regular session until January 24, 2012. They have very little new law to show for their efforts. The Governor will have signed only a few measures into law and he vetoed all the omnibus spending bills and the tax bill because they do not meet his approval on either substantive issues or on overall program funding and revenue levels.

Legislative leaders and the Governor are at an impasse over tax increases. The Governor dropped parts of his tax increase proposals but still relies on nearly $1 billion in income taxes from the top 5% of income tax filers. The legislature also relies on tax increases. The legislature’s cuts to local governments will result in a $1.2 billion property tax hike over the biennium according to non-partisan tax modeling done by the Department of Revenue. And the legislature’s tax bill specifically raise taxes on renters by $186 million over the biennium by eliminating renter’s credit for 72,000 households with remaining eligible households receiving cuts ranging from $190 to $335 per low-income household. In fact the tax increase on renters go back to the 2010 tax year which forms the basis for this year’s reduced credit.

During the last weeks of session, JRLC focused on the Health and Human Services (HHS) bill that made deep budget reductions to very poor individuals and families. Specifically, budget reductions to the General Assistance program and Minnesota Family Investment Program would have extracted about $25 million out of monthly income for people with certified disabilities.

Deep cuts affecting children were plentiful and painful in the HHS bill, including a significant cut to children’s mental health services and children’s protection under the Children and Community Services Act totaling over $24 million. Children's Mental Health Screening grants were cut by $3.8 million, while funding for the Indian Children Welfare Act, intended to be child protection services for American Indian families, was cut by $1.5 million and then transferred to R21 grants.

Child care for working families suffered under the HHS bill, as well. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) cut reimbursement levels for both professional child care providers and the Family, Friend and Neighbor program (FFN), resulting in $26.8 million fewer dollars for families in need of child care for their children. The Basic Sliding Fee Child Care Assistance program was cut $5 million. Meanwhile, Child Care Resource and Referral Grants, provided to agencies that help families find quality child care, was cut by $1.5 million.

The HHS bill also ends the medical assistance for last year’s GAMC-eligible patients and brings back the underfunded and metro-centric uncompensated care pool, a policy which caused great hardship the latter part of 2010 and which the faith community, low-income advocates, and the Minnesota Hospital Association vigorously oppose.

Also of grave concern is the elimination of medical assistance for adults and limits on MinnesotaCare adding to projections that at least 140,000 Minnesotans will lose health care coverage.

We argued in committees, in legislative offices, and in the media that these very painful cuts somehow be reconsidered and we prayed in vigils across the state of Minnesota. We simply and emphatically said we would be better served by solving the budget shortfall with different priorities and, if necessary, increased revenues, raised fairly.

One bright spot in the Human Services bill was the inclusion of $200,000, eligible for federal matching dollars, to bolster the state’s efforts to streamline application and eligibility for publicly-funded programs. We thank Commissioner Jesson for her attentiveness to this effort and gaining its inclusion in the conference report.

We helped the effort to stave off increased gambling as a revenue source for the moment, although we know the danger still persists in budget negotiations. We were happy to work with Citizens Against Gambling Expansion and the Freedom Foundation to bring Dr. Earl Grinols back to Minnesota for a forum and legislative testimony. He is the preeminent academic researcher on the social costs of gambling, and uses econometrics to show that casino gambling social costs exceed social benefits by a three-to-one margin.

On the positive side we worked very hard with our colleagues in the Coalition for Impartial Justice to advance legislation to ensure an independent and impartial judiciary with more meaningful voter accountability. Our coalition secured new majority-party authors, Rep. Michael Beard and Sen. Doug Magnus. Co-authors in the house are: Representatives Simon, Hoppe, Loon, Winkler, Schomacker, Mazorol, Hornstein, Sanders, and McFarlane. Co-authors in the senate are: Senators Rest, Harrington, Olson, and Hann. The bill numbers are HF 1666 and SF 1465. The house file had one informational hearing in the Government Operations and Elections committee and JRLC testified along with many others. Work will continue next year.

JRLC helped organize very moving and effective prayer vigils around the state in May, including at Duluth City Hall, St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud, and the Statehood Day Vigil at the Capitol. We mobilized hundreds to these events and inspired hundreds of contacts with legislators, urging lawmakers to protect the poor and most vulnerable. Special thanks to Kathy Langer who did a tremendous job organizing the vigil in St. Cloud (Corein Brown was very effective in describing a “Circle of Protection,” an advocacy concept designed to insist that lawmakers first fund the essential needs of people.

We give great thanks to our 59 District Leaders and 316 iCAN Key Advocates who gave so much of themselves during the session. We are blessed to have an incredible network of leaders and passionate advocates around the state! We are planning to raise our voices again soon and we also plan to conduct regional trainings during the summer and fall and will alert you all to our schedule.

Day on the Hill will probably be March 20, 2012. We will begin the day at RiverCentre and bus over to the Capitol for legislative visits as we have done for many years.

So much is unresolved. There is no better time than now to communicate with lawmakers. They are now back in their districts, very curious about public opinion, and willing to listen again (as soon as they rest for a day or two!)

Our work goes on. More soon!