Jan. 17—It’s been a tense start to the legislative session, but local representatives say they still have big goals for the coming months.
Whether they’re tied to education, government operations, the budget or other issues, it is sure to be a busy session.
One of the primary responsibilities of the Legislature this session is to approve a budget, and District 23A Rep. Peggy Bennett said legislators need to be responsible for how they spend. There has been so much spending the last few years, not only for the short-term but for the long-term, and now the state is looking at a deficit in the next biennium.
Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday proposed his two-year budget, which included some pullbacks and other measures to keep a potential deficit at bay. He also proposed a reduction in the state’s sales tax rate.
Bennett said in her time in office, she has learned that legislators like to spend, but they need to be more responsible in how they allocate government spending.
Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said another one of her goals for the session is tied to things she thinks need to be fixed with the state’s government.
One of those fixes centers around large, multi-faceted omnibus bills and their need for reform. While she’s not saying they need to be outlawed all together — she said she thinks there is a place for them — something needs to be done so that controversial bills will be required to run separately for transparency instead of being thrown into large omnibus bills. This would also help stop some of the roadblocks that come at the end of the session.
“It’s very difficult to get this changed, but I will again be offering my bill saying they should be reformed,” Bennett said.
She also has a bill that relates to nonprofit grants toward schools and making sure that tax dollars are spent effectively on school-related issues.
She wants to fix the issue of fraud that has been taking place in the state — up to a billion dollars stolen through things like Feeding our Future, Medicaid fraud and frontline worker fraud.
The worst part of the fraud, she said, is that the people who were supposed to benefit from the funds never got them. She noted the Republicans have established a committee to deal with this.
Another goal is tied to making Minnesota more affordable in a time when there is still massive inflation, when people are struggling to pay bills and there is a “ballooning state budget,” she said. She would like to see the automatic gas tax increase be repealed, along with the new delivery tax and the state tax on Social Security income for the state’s seniors.
On an education goal, and as a former teacher and now chair of the Education Policy Committee and member on the Education Finance Committee, Bennett said she is heartbroken to see that less than half of the state’s children can read at grade level. She said she plans to put legislation forward to give schools the tools and time to focus on academics. She will lobby for more local control, though she believes districts still need to be held accountable through test results.
Her fourth goal area centers around public safety and said Minnesota should be a safe place to live.
Bennett said there are more and more places in the state people don’t want to go because people don’t feel safe.
“It’s a very real thing,” she said, noting she has even heard of other legislators who have been mugged.
She said there should be policies that keep businesses and homes safe and that make sure criminals are held responsible.
Another priority of Bennett’s is a bonding bill for the water treatment projects in cities such as Albert Lea, Manchester and Clarks Grove, though it is not a typical bonding year. She said she and District 23 Sen. Gene Dornink are starting to offer bills for each of those projects in the event a bonding bill does come to the table.
Despite the disagreement that is taking place currently among Republicans and Democrats about the majority in the House, she said she is committed to working together, as she recognizes that there still needs to be 68 votes to pass a bill off the House floor.
“All I know is I’m here to do my job, and I’ll be here working,” she said.
Mueller’s priorities
Against the conflicting backdrop in the House, District 23 B Rep. Patricia Mueller said she is ready to dive into this session with a few targets she wants to address.
Her work will largely be done through the Education Finance and Education Policy Committee as well as the Workforce and Labor Committee, with both committees promising opportunities to overlap in terms of her goals.
One of those goals is finding an easier way for teachers to get into the profession.
“I am very excited to be able to have discussions around the alternative teacher pathway program,” Mueller said. “So they don’t have to start from square one.”
Mueller went through a number of different facets regarding this program, including helping those reaching education through a non-traditional pathway.
One way to do that would follow an apprenticeship program that is similar to a program put through in Tennessee. Through this pathway, prospective teachers would be matched with established teachers and would make the process paid.
Mueller envisions this reimagining of student-teaching would honor experiences they already have had.
“Let’s make the profession more professional and go through this internship type of thing,” Mueller said.
Not only would this give the prospective teachers a professional setting to further enhance their own pathway, it also gives them opportunity to settle into the ebb and flow of a district that could well end up hiring in the end.
“They shouldn’t have to have their whole life upturned,” Mueller said. “It just makes more sense if we already see somebody willing to work with our children, then we need to honor the experiences they already have.”
Mueller also wants to spend time exploring increasing the pipeline for students into the job field as an alternative to four-year schooling.
Mueller said she is interested in having this conversation, because for some four-year schooling isn’t the option. In some cases it’s entering a skilled job market and again she’s looking at an out-of-state model in Indiana as a possibility.
In a student’s senior year, students are required to complete an apprenticeship to achieve a diploma.
“It’s a really interesting option to look at,” Mueller said. “This is a conversation we need to have. How can we match this up with what job creators are looking for?”
With a heavy education emphasis this session, Mueller is also looking at possible fixes to the READ Act as well as making sure there is enough funding that goes straight to schools.
Part of the issue that Mueller sees with the READ Act, which was signed into law in May of 2023 by Gov. Tim Walz, is that there isn’t enough of a research base around it.
The act’s purpose is to have children reading at or above a grade level every year, beginning in kindergarten. It also includes support for multilingual learners and special education students.
“Nowhere in the bill is it called the ‘science of reading,'” Mueller said. “They are trying to tap dance around it. Stakeholders, influential stakeholders, have problems calling it the science of reading. It is not based on science and not based on research.”
She also wants to approach what she deems as over regulation on the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Education Improvement.
“A lot of money went to the University of Minnesota CAREI to be able to approve material and approve curriculum and training,” Mueller said. “What ended up happening was instead of guidance they were incredibly over regulated. Schools were left with little guidance and little money to be able to do what they wanted to do.”
Aside from the education facet, there are several things that Mueller said she will be keeping her eye on including the proposed FAARM project slated for northern Mower County, The Hormel Institute’s expansion and Riverland Community College projects.
However, one project is particularly important to Mueller.
“The one project that is urgent, and I mean urgent, is redoing 218 through Blooming Prairie,” Mueller said. “This project has become a little more expensive than a tiny community like Blooming Prairie can pay for.”
Mueller argued that this project is especially important because it’s a vital connection between Blooming Prairie, Owatonna and Austin.
Other areas Mueller said are important and that she would like to see worked on include the reforms to regulations for home child care and child care providers, strains put on small businesses by new reforms requiring paid family leave and the ability of small towns to be able to fund ambulance and first responder services.
“We’re excited to get going and excited that there are going to be more policies that we’ve seen,” Mueller said. “We have to pass a budget in the first year of the biennium. Make sure you have your voices heard and make sure you pay attention.”
Dornink’s goals
Regarding the budget, which Dornink, R-Brownsdale, said is first and foremost for the session, the Legislature needs to protect and be better stewards of taxpayers’ money after two years of major spending and the largest budget in the history of the state.
He said the DFLers got too aggressive and ran too many things through when they knew they had the majority in the House, Senate and governor seat and didn’t listen at all to the minority. This year will be different because things won’t be able to be run through like in recent years.
The Senate currently has a power-sharing agreement in place, and the House currently is split 67-66 with Republicans leading with 67 to the DFL’s 66.
Dornink said the parties having to share power may not be a bad thing as they will be forced to collaborate more. He said he thinks the government actually works best when it is split like it is this year.
Important in the budget will be funding the state’s schools, public safety and all of the core things the government does at the state level.
Dornink said he would also like to see a bonding bill pass this year, as there are many critical projects in need of state support in the local area, including the water treatment projects in Manchester, Clark Grove and Albert Lea, as well as other projects in Austin.
“What an important opportunity that was missed,” he said of the last session.
Dornink will serve as the co-chair of the Labor Committee and vice chairman of the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband and Rural Development Committee. He is also on the Jobs and Economic Development Committee.
He would also like to see the millions in fraud, waste and abuse be addressed that is essentially now taxpayer money that has been wasted.
In addition to bills he plans to put forward for the bonding projects in the area, Dornink said he plans to propose a bill that would allow for an exemption for agricultural businesses with five employees or less tied to earned sick and safe time. Another bill would make the requirements more workable for the broadband dollars being disbursed through the state from the federal government.
“We don’t want to lose that funding,” he said.
Despite a more unusual start to this year’s legislative session, Dornink said he is hopeful of the work that will be accomplished this session.
“It’s a great honor to serve this community and be a voice for them,” he said.
Sarah Stultz and Eric Johnson contributed to this story