Higher Education Omnibus bill passes After being told by Gov. Mark Dayton their first proposal “fell short,” the omnibus higher education conference committee continued to craft a compromise Sunday. Sunday... Continue Reading →

Little talking - No negotiating Thursday was a very quiet day at the Capitol. Governor Dayton and leaders did not meet. Instead, Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans and... Continue Reading →

Budget talks hit impasse Governor Dayton and legislative leaders met in four separate meetings on Wednesday each with different results. Early morning Leaders gathered around 10:30 a.m. to pick-up where... Continue Reading →

Budget offers are traded and discussions continue Tuesday started with an brief meeting between Governor Dayton and legislative leaders. After a brief exchange of when conversations would continue, the parties... Continue Reading →

Governor vetoes higher education omnibus bill. Negotiations restart. Governor Dayton stated last week that he would veto all of the Republican omnibus budget bills after negotiations halted. On Friday the... Continue Reading →

Higher Ed Conference Committee Report stays on the table As the Senate and House recessed late on Tuesday, all plans indicated that the two chambers would continue to hear and... Continue Reading →

Governor, lawmakers reach critical crossroads After days of talks, and only hours after Gov. Mark Dayton offered legislative leaders specific numbers, budget negotiations changed gears late Monday night with a... Continue Reading →

Negotiations continue and conference committees scheduled to meet Tuesday Following Saturday's discussions with Governor Dayton, legislative leaders walked out of Monday's discussions after less than 30 minutes. "Things in the... Continue Reading →

Negotiations continue over the weekend but no deal Minnesota’s legislative leaders are still in the early stages of trying to reconcile huge differences in budget priorities between DFL Gov. Mark... Continue Reading →

Budget negotiations continue Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday that he and lawmakers negotiating budget bills spent nearly an hour on two policy provisions inside the agriculture finance omnibus bill –... Continue Reading →

Budget negotiations begin Legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton met Wednesday for about an hour behind closed doors, laying the groundwork for negotiations going forward over budget bills currently stuck... Continue Reading →

Higher Education Conference Committee adopt budget provisions The Higher Education Conference Committee met on Monday to complete their work and adopt budget provisions. Last week, the conference committee adopted their... Continue Reading →

Joint House/Senate budget targets announced Today, the leaders of the House and Senate Republican caucuses unveiled their joint budget targets for FY 2018-2019. These numbers will be the framework for... Continue Reading →

Higher Education Conference Committee hears public testimony On Tuesday, the ten-member conference committee on higher education took public testimony. Officials from the University of Minnesota, the Private Colleges, the Minnesota... Continue Reading →

The countdown begins - 4 weeks remaining in session Before major work can be done to combine the House and Senate bills in conference committee, joint budget targets must be... Continue Reading →

Higher Education Conference Committee reviews bills The ten-member Higher Education Conference Committee met Wednesday evening to review the House and Senate bills. Research and Fiscal staff presented the similarities and differences in... Continue Reading →

Conference Committees announced The House and Senate announced Conference Committee conferees this morning. Conference Committees will meet to work out differences between the House and Senate versions. A Conference Committee tracker can be found HERE.... Continue Reading →

Legislature has five weeks remaining The countdown begins with only five weeks remaining in the regular legislative session. Legislators return today from break to tackle the remaining work ahead of them. By... Continue Reading →

House Higher Education Bill heard in Ways and Means Late Thursday night after the House Floor Session, the Ways and Means Committee convened to hear the Higher Education Omnibus bill.... Continue Reading →

Senate Higher Education bill passes off Senate Floor Late Tuesday night, the Senate heard SF 2214 - the Higher Education Finance and Policy bill. Republicans control the Senate with a... Continue Reading →

Senate Higher Education bill to be heard on Senate Floor today SF2214 (2nd Engrossment) - the Senate Higher Education Omnibus bill will be heard this afternoon on the Senate Floor.... Continue Reading →

House Higher Education hear amendments on omnibus bill The House Higher Education and Career Readiness Policy and Finance committee presented the House higher education omnibus bill Thursday evening. Seven amendments... Continue Reading →

Senate Higher Education committee hears amendments The Senate Higher Education Finance and Policy committee met for over three hours Wednesday evening and heard over 35 amendments to their omnibus bill... Continue Reading →

Senate Higher Education introduces Omnibus Bill The Senate Higher Education Finance and Policy committee presented SF2214 - the senate higher education omnibus bill this afternoon. Reminder that last week, Senate Republicans... Continue Reading →

House Republicans announce budget targets this morning House Republicans announced their budget targets Monday, headlined by $1.35 billion in tax relief for Minnesota families, $450 million in new funding for... Continue Reading →

Second committee deadline approaches The second deadline of the 2017 Legislative Session is this Friday, March 17th, in which committees must act favorably on bills, or companion bills, that have... Continue Reading →

First committee deadline this Friday This Friday, March 10, marks the first committee deadline, where committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin. Next Friday, March 17... Continue Reading →

$1.65 billion surplus announced for Minnesota's state budget This morning the Office of Management and Budget released the state’s February budget forecast, which projects Minnesota’s state budget to have a... Continue Reading →

Week 9 kicks-off With the first legislative deadline approaching a week from Friday, many committees are broaching long-standing policy discussions including liquor, fireworks, healthcare, and teacher licensure this week. Today... Continue Reading →

Minnesota State to present budget request to House Higher Education and Career Readiness committee on Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. The hearing will be live streamed on the House multimedia site.... Continue Reading →