Policy provision differences highlight Day 2 of supplemental budget conference committee

The omnibus House and Senate supplemental budget bills differ greatly in some appropriations; the policy differences are vaster.

Wednesday’s conference committee on HF4099/SF3656* focused on the major policy differences in education, environment, jobs and energy, public safety and state government. No action was taken.

Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), who chairs the conference committee with Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Vernon Center), said conferees are expected to continue overviews Thursday, including transportation.

MORE View side-by-side comparisons for the various areas

Here are the some of the differences in select areas:

Agriculture

There are a handful of policy differences in the agriculture sections of the bill.

The House would establish a new Rural Finance Authority loan program, and loan criteria, to explore the feasibility of new renewable energy projects. It would also allow individuals in the cottage foods industry to register as limited liability corporations in order to buy liability insurance, and modify some biomass and bioeconomy programs.

The Senate has language to modify saltwater aquaculture statutes in a few areas including a provision requiring they be classified as agricultural operations for any construction, discharge or other permit issued by the Pollution Control Agency. Definitions for “saltwater aquaculture” and “saltwater aquatic farms” are also added, as are requirements for transportation or importation of saltwater aquatic life.

Education

The House and Senate may agree that school safety is a priority, but when it comes to other policy provisions and funding, there are differences. 

A House provision would require the Department of Education to create a summative rating system that assigns each school a score of zero to 100, based on standardized test scores and achievement gap data. An earlier version of the Senate bill had a similar measure but it was removed during floor debate.

Other provisions in the House bill, but not the Senate include:

• requiring the Office of the Legislative Auditor to conduct a study of how school districts and schools are spending their revenue;
• creating special education equity regions and aid for districts where the special education cross subsidy is greater than the regional average;
• guidelines for the disposal of surplus school computers, permitting them to be sold or given to students; and
• extending prekindergarten and School Readiness Plus programs into the 2020-21 biennium.

A measure not in the House bill, but in the Senate version would require school boards to adopt and post a policy, beginning in the 2018-19 school year, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs. It must include reporting and disciplinary actions for violations and be included in student handbooks and distributed to employees.  

Health and human services

The House is generally much more aggressive on health and human services policy reform in its bill than the Senate.

Perhaps the most glaring difference is a provision Gov. Mark Dayton vehemently opposes. In a news conference Tuesday, he promised to veto any bill that contained language that essentially bans implementation of his MinnesotaCare buy-in proposal. The House provision would prohibit the Department of Human Services from going through with the buy-in as long as any unpaid MinnesotaCare premium payment remains unaccounted for.

Department officials previously testified in committee that unpaid premiums, which extend from 2014 through 2017, would be too much trouble to hunt for and the money collected wouldn’t be worth the time and money spent to track them all down. The idea is not included in the Senate version of the bill.

One place the Senate goes farther than the House is the prescription monitoring program, which helps doctors track opioid prescriptions.

Sponsored by Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), an earlier version of HF1440 would charge opioid manufacturers a fee for each pill, as well as beef up the prescription monitoring system. That proposal is not in the House omnibus bill, but the Senate has a similar idea on its side.

Instead of charging Big Pharma, it would charge a $50 annual fee to each prescriber or pharmacist who accesses the system. Furthermore, the Senate bill would require prescribers to check the system before prescribing opioids to a patient, and once every three months thereafter, with some exceptions. This proposal is not in the House version.

Jobs, energy and housing

The jobs, energy and housing articles in the House and Senate versions of the omnibus supplemental budget bills differ in many policy and funding areas.

Provisions that are in the House bill but not in the Senate include:

• establishing a two-tiered minimum wage for tipped employees;
• establishing the Prairie Island Net Zero Project, including appropriating $40 million from the Renewable Development Account over five years so the Prairie Island Indian Community can establish a zero net emissions energy system;
• establishing a process so Xcel Energy can get the OK from the Public Utilities Commission to do work on its nuclear plants before it spends any money; and
• requiring the Public Utilities Commission to relocate to Virginia, Minn.

The Senate also includes policy provisions that aren’t in the House bill. They would:

• establish a biomass business compensation claims process and create a biomass business compensation account that’s funded with $40 million from the Renewable Development Account;
• allow a public utility to petition the Public Utilities Commission to recover the costs associated with energy storage system pilot projects;
• establish a grant program for school districts to fund solar energy systems; and
• increase salaries for judges and chief judge at Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals.

Public safety

A plethora of House policy is countered by little from the Senate.

Provisions in the House bill, but not the Senate include:

• amending the definition of sexual harassment in the Human Rights Act to clarify that misconduct or communication does not have to be severe or pervasive to qualify as discriminatory sexual harassment;
• requiring consent of a defendant or victim before a broadcast of a criminal matter in court;
• creation of a task force on missing and murdered indigenous women;
• mandatory minimum sentences for possession and distribution of child pornography; and
• expanding criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation to include cases where a driver using a cellular phone or other electronic device without the use of a hands-free setting causes the death or bodily harm of someone.

The Senate includes language to extend the Court Technology Fund for five more years. Set to expire June 30, 2018, the fund is used to develop and maintain court and court-related computer systems and initiatives. It is paid for by a $2 fee on court filings and motions.

To increase dollars available for police officer training the House changes the percentage of the surcharge imposed for criminal and traffic offenses resulting in an additional $172,000 for the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. The Senate transfers $125,000 from the General Fund.

State Government

A $6.79 million difference in spending and a handful of major policy provisions separates the House and Senate positions in the state government finance portion of the omnibus supplemental budget bill.

The Senate is proposing a $1.55 million spending increase, but the House proposing a $5.24 million reduction. The House’s $3.8 million cut to the Revenue Department and $1.4 million cut to the Department of Human Rights far outweigh the Senate’s biggest spending reduction – a $150,000 transfer from Minnesota Management and Budget to the secretary of state’s office for a voting-related grant.

In fact, funding the secretary of state’s office, exempting hair braiders from registering with the Board of Cosmetologist Examiners and a provision limiting residential construction rulemaking is about the entirety of the duo’s common bond.

Major House proposals, like requiring agencies to dedicate 3.5 percent of their budget to cybersecurity and building veterans homes in Greater Minnesota aren’t in the Senate version. While the Senate proposal would require the Department of Administration to place a plaque in the Capitol honoring World War I veterans, the House would direct the Amateur Sports Commission to bid for a Nordic World Cup Ski Championship.

The Senate wants to abolish MN.IT as a standalone agency and move it under the purview of the Administration Department; the House proposes expanding the IT agency’s jurisdiction to include the state lottery, Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, and a few others.

Transportation

While the House transportation language proposes $101 million in supplemental General fund spending in Fiscal Year 2019, the Senate bill would spend far less — just $14.4 million.

The House would appropriate the bulk of that supplemental General Fund spending on roads and bridge construction across the state. House-only supplemental appropriations for the remainder of the 2018-19 biennium include:

• $25.2 million for county state-aid highway projects;
• $11.1 million for highway operations and maintenance; and
• $10 million for MnDOT’s Corridors of Commerce program that provides funds for stretches of roadway critical to the movement of commerce that aren’t already included in the state’s highway improvement program.

Other House-only spending includes $7 million for small cities road and bridge construction assistance; $5 million for a new freight rail development fund; and $2 million for improvements at the Rochester International Airport.

Both bills include a number of policy provisions, including a program aimed at aiding those impacted by the messy rollout of the state’s new motor vehicle license and registration system, MNLARS.

The Senate version includes $15 million to fund a program to reimburse deputy registrars across the state harmed by the flawed system. The House bill contains only $9 million for a similar program.