ST. PAUL - An education funding bill Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton promises to veto is headed to his desk.
With less than a half day left until the state Constitution orders lawmakers to finish their work, senators voted 51-14 to approve the bill Dayton says he cannot sign because it does not fund half-day classes for 4 year olds. A mixture of Democrats and Republicans voted against the bill.
The House earlier approved the bill 71-59, with all Republicans in favor and Democrats against.
If Dayton follows through with his promise to veto the bill, and it occurs before midnight, the question will be whether he and legislative leaders who crafted the measure can work out a last-minute compromise. If that does not happen, the governor could call a special legislative session to pass an education bill.
On Sunday, Dayton said in his strongest language yet that he would veto the education bill because it does not fund his top priority: pre-kindergarten education. It falls $171 million short.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dayton blamed House Republicans on the lack of pre-kindergarten funding.
“They are responsible, not me,” Dayton said as he blamed the GOP for a special session. “Their attitude is they will pass this bill and walk away.”
Dayton's fellow Democrats in the Senate said lots of nice things about the bill Dayton promises to veto.
One provision that will help greater Minnesota, Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, D-Plummer said, "is going to mean an awful lot." It would allow schools to get state money to help make repairs.
Stumpf told of one school district that had to make roof repairs over a numbers of years because it could not afford to make all the needed repairs, adding that the provision would have helped.
Otherwise, the Legislature was well on its way to passing a $41 billion, two-year budget. Much of the spending was negotiated by Dayton, House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook.
However, after the three failed to reach a deal on education funding, Daudt and Bakk met privately for two hours Friday afternoon and came up with their own plan.
While Dayton Sunday expressed displeasure with provisions in the other seven spending bills, he only issued a veto threat on education.
ADVERTISEMENT
The House education vote just before 5:30 a.m.
The bill would spend $17 billion in the two years beginning July 1.
"Legislative leaders crafted a student-focused, bipartisan education bill that works to provide Minnesota students with a world-class education," House Education Finance Chairwoman Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, said. "From increasing E (early childhood)-12 funding by a substantial $400 million to prioritizing our youngest learners with millions more for pre-k scholarships and school readiness aid, this legislation increases academic opportunities for all students and will help close the achievement gap."
Democrats saw the bill differently.
“Just like this entire session, the Republican education bill is a huge waste of an opportunity for Minnesota’s future,” House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, D-Minneapolis, said. “With a $2 billion surplus, we should seize this opportunity to invest in our youngest learners and make serious progress to reduce our state’s achievement gap.”
Much of the new money goes to increasing per-pupil aid to all public schools. It also would spend $60 million for early-childhood education and adds money to help greater Minnesota schools improve and repair facilities.
House and Senate members overnight also passed a $12 billion measure funding health programs. It retained the existing MNsure health insurance exchange structure, which both parties wanted to change. It also maintained the MinnesotaCare state-subsidized insurance program for the poor, which Republicans wanted to eliminate.
