The higher education omnibus bill conference committee met today and walked through the Senate and House bills. Vice Chancellor of Finance Laura King testified regarding Minnesota State’s concerns with the bills and said, “There is a direct relationship between what happens in this conference committee and the financial outlook for our colleges and universities. We have weathered years of flat revenue and fluctuating enrollment.” King finished her testimony by asking conferees for their support and told them Minnesota State looks forward to being their partner in the deliberations ahead.
The conference committee is scheduled to meet again Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and will discuss same and similar provisions between the House and Senate bills. The same and similar document can be found HERE.
Conference committee work will continue without budget targets as negotiations between legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz failed to reach an agreement Monday.
Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said today that the May 13 deadline when conference committee are supposed to finish their work will no longer apply since conferees cannot finalize bills without budget targets.
The Legislature has less than two weeks to come to an agreement on a budget for 2020-2021.
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