We have reached the point in the legislative session when committees are working hard to pass omnibus bills and send them to their next stop in the process. Keep in mind that the 2016 session is considered a bonding year. Lawmakers already set the 2016-2017 biennial budget last session. In the off year, legislators and the Governor look to the February economic forecast to determine if they need to make cuts to the budget or if there is a surplus to work with. The State has to end the fiscal year with a balanced budget and cannot operate in a deficit as the federal government can.
The Republican House and the Democrat Senate have weighed in on whether or not to spend the $900 million surplus and how best to spend it. In the House, higher education does not have a budget target, so there is no new money to fund appropriation bills heard in the higher education committee this session. Given this, the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee has one omnibus bill, which is a policy bill only.
The Senate on the other hand, is proposing a funding increase for higher education of $47.7 million. So the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development committee has both a policy bill and a budget bill. The budget bill will become part of a larger Senate Finance bill as a higher education article. The Senate higher education committee passed the budget bill Wednesday and sent it to Senate Finance where it will be taken up this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. The hearing will be streamed live.
Of the $47.7 million, the Senate bill includes $8.25 million for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. $7 million is appropriated for tuition relief for undergraduate students. There is also $200,000 for the Principals’ Leadership Institute at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
There is $100,000 in one-time funds for programs on system campuses that promote adoption of open textbooks. The programs are to focus on the review, creation, and promotion of new or existing open textbooks and on saving money for students while meeting the academic needs of faculty. The bill appropriates an additional $100,000 in one-time funds to expand and promote the open textbook library to faculty across the state.
$100,000 one-time funds are also included to develop a multi-campus online program for early childhood teacher preparation program; and $853,000 ongoing funds are appropriated for a pilot program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Under the measure, MnSCU is to offer a pilot academic program for students with intellectual disabilities at four state university or college campuses that have the ability to offer a robust program using existing facilities, including residential facilities.
Committee Chair Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, said last session the higher education bill appropriated more funds to MnSCU for tuition relief. Bonoff said this year the committee wanted to focus on the University of Minnesota in order to provide equity.
Sen. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, said he’s concerned with the lack of funding for tuition relief in the bill for MnSCU. MnSCU is asking for $21 million. Eken said he hopes the issue can be addressed in conference committee and lawmakers can increase the $7 million for tuition relief for MnSCU. Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, said he’s concerned with how out of balance the bill is between MnSCU and the University of Minnesota. He said he believes any inequity last session should not be adjusted in a supplemental budget bill, but rather addressed next session in a budget year.
Sen. Miller asked Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Vice Chancellor and CFO Laura King how she anticipates the $7 million tuition relief appropriation will be spent. Vice Chancellor King asked the committee for some help in clearing up the misleading language regarding “tuition relief.” Chair Bonoff said the intent of the bill is not to provide direction on how tuition is handled, and that the funds could be appropriated to the campuses to be used to balance their budgets. The committee agreed and changed the “tuition relief” language to read, “campus programs or services that affect students.”
The Senate bill also includes a $2.5 million increase in the State Grant program. The assigned family responsibility, (AFR) which is the amount of a family’s contribution to a student’s cost of attendance, is reduced slightly in the bill. This would mean a reduced payment for a student and their family. For dependent students, the AFR is reduced from 96 to 94 percent of the parental contribution. For independent students with dependents, the AFR is reduced from 86 percent to 85 percent of the student contribution; and for independent students without dependents, the AFR is reduced from 50 to 49 percent of the student contribution.
State Grant tuition caps are also set in the bill. Caps were not set in the 2015 higher education bill, so the bill sets them in law. For students in two-year programs, the tuition maximum is $5,736, and for students in four-year programs, the tuition maximum is $14,186. Meredith Fergus with the Office of Higher Education testified that the language keeps the caps at current levels.
There is also language in the Senate finance bill that addresses supplemental and developmental education. This provision does not include an appropriation as the fiscal note was still being reviewed by MMB. Under the measure, MnSCU is to develop and implement varied research-grounded tiered approaches to supplemental instruction and developmental education based on student academic readiness. The tiered approach must minimize the placement of students in developmental education by providing a supplemental instruction course structure that results in earning the equivalent of credit in a credit-bearing course while providing targeted support. MnSCU is also to make available to students on its Web site, in course catalogs, and by other methods at the discretion of the board, the supplemental instruction, developmental education, and co-requisite courses offered at a particular college or university.
The bill also includes $14.4 million for the equity in education and job connection grant program. The Office of Higher Education is charged with awarding grants to improve postsecondary attendance, completion, and retention and the obtaining of good-paying jobs for which the postsecondary education provides training by providing services to historically underrepresented college students.
The higher education omnibus policy bill in the House, HF3237, includes a variety of provisions including language regarding statewide testing in the K-12 system. The MnSCU chancellor, in consultation with the Department of Education is to identify scores on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment exams (MCAs) for high school math and reading, and for writing when available, indicating when students are prepared to successfully complete credit-bearing coursework at a two-year or four-year college or university or other credit-bearing postsecondary program. Regarding MCA college ready scores, the bill states that a college or university cannot require a student to take a remedial, non-credit course in a subject area if the individual has received a college-ready MCA score in that subject area.
Rep. Isaacson-DFL, Shoreview, presented an amendment that state colleges and universities must consider, alongside other relevant factors as determined by the college or university, whether the individual received a college-ready MCA score in that subject area. The amendment passed.
Also in the House higher education omnibus policy bill is a provision that requires MnSCU to develop a plan for offering an academic program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities up to four campuses that have the ability to offer a robust program. This is similar to the language and appropriation included in the Senate higher education budget bill; however, the House bill requires a report to be submitted in January 2017 to the legislator outlining the plan by which programs would be developed.
On Wednesday, the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee adopted the omnibus policy bill. The bill heads next to the House Ways and Means Committee.
