On Monday, the conference committee waded through hundreds of pages comparing House and Senate versions of the omnibus supplemental budget bill come down to a $453.5 million difference in bottom lines. While the House is proposing just under $3.2 million in net supplemental spending for the biennium, the Senate proposal would spend an additional $456.7 million, just short of Gov. Mark Dayton’s $494.5 million proposal.
With joint budget targets yet to be established, Monday’s first meeting of the conference committee on HF2749 consisted of little discussion as nonpartisan fiscal analysts walked conferees through the broadband, education and health and human services differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
Conferees met late Monday evening and began reviewing K-12 policy differences between the House and Senate bills. The committee is scheduled to meet again today at 1:30 p.m. or at the call of the chair in the Minnesota Senate Building.
The Senate proposal would increase spending across the board, but under the House proposal, spending would increase only in the areas of environment, transportation and jobs and energy. The House set budget targets of zero for education, higher education and health and human services, and called for budget reductions in agriculture, public safety and state government.
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