The Advocate Weekly



In This Issue
Quick Links
Legislative Action
News on MSBA's Platform Issues
 
Increasing the general education fund by at least inflation is a high priority for MSBA this session. It's a great time to start sharing how an increase on the will impact your district.  Take a moment and send your legislators a short email letting them know your story.
My Legislators

Calendar Items
Leadership Conference - January 12-13.

Mark your calendars now for Monday, April 3 for MSBA Day at the  Capitol.


 Week 2 - January 9, 2017
 
School Board Members and Superintendents:

Welcome to the 2017 Legislative Session.  This is the first year, and the budget year, of the 90th Biennium or two year session. 
You will notice we have a new look! We learned much from our recent survey and want to let you know we appreciate your feedback.  
New Monday Morning Briefing with the GR Team
This is a new format for Monday Morning Coffee. It used to be a call-in format. We heard it was not easy for people to call in, but participants liked the information.  So, each Monday morning, we invite you to grab a cup of java, tea or your favorite morning beverage and get caught up with the most recent legislative news and get a look forward to what is happening at the Capitol this week. We hope you will use this as a tool to share information with your colleagues - print off or forward the email, share the video.

The 90th Legislative Session began Tuesday, January 3 with the swearing in of all the new legislators and a new look to our Capitol. 
As the Legislature gets acclimated, we want to start the session by sharing the 2017 MSBA Legislative Platform with you.
Here are five key planks or elements of the platform:
  1. Invest in all our students with an inflationary increase to the general education formula and fully funding special education and Pre-K programs.
  2. Ensure every student has a qualified teacher by working to eliminate the teacher shortage.
  3. Support the work of locally elected school boards.
  4. Work for equity and student achievement for all students.
  5. Provide for fair tax policies throughout Minnesota.

In other ne ws, Governor Mark Dayton did release his tax bill last week. MSBA supports Governor Dayton's tax reduction plan of $34 million for farmers with the goal of helping our school boards and school districts. 
Also included is the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) sales tax repeal.
 
Looking forward to this week, committee meetings will be in full swing with the start of bill introductions. We will highlight some bills each Monday here and post full bill introductions each week in The Advocate  as well.

Bills of Interest & Impact
New Bills and Bill Updates
Each week new bills will be highlighted in this section as well as updates on the bills that have been heard.  As the session progresses, we will provide updates from the conference committees. When there is a hearing on a significant bill, we will also try and provide links to the video so you can watch with us.
Here are a few of the first bills introduced:
  • H. F. 4, A bill for an act relating to taxation; providing a school building bond agricultural property tax credit; modifying the state general levy; providing income tax subtractions for Social Security benefits and contributions to section 529 college savings plans; providing income tax credits for section 529 college savings plans and student loan payments; appropriating money.
  • H. F. 41, A bill for an act relating to education; establishing the Student Physical Privacy Act; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A.
    The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Education Innovation Policy.
  • H. F. 50, A bill for an act relating to education; amending the definition of public employee to include replacement employees who are employed for more than 60 days as a replacement teacher or faculty member.
  • S.F. No. 4: A bill for an act relating to education; directing the commissioner of education to plan for restructuring Minnesota's teacher licensure system.
    Referred to the Committee on E-12 Policy.
  • S.F. No. 12: A bill for an act relating to education finance; modifying the calculation of referendum equalization revenue, aid, and levy .
  • S.F. No. 14: A bill for an act relating to education finance; appropriating money for teacher development and evaluation revenue.

     
A message from Kirk and the GR Team

We hope you will utilize this weekly format as a resource to keep your school board colleagues updated and aware of important issues that arise.
  • Share the MSBA Legislative Platform and discuss how you can advocate with us.
  • Please share new bills and other relevant information with your fellow school board members each week.
  • Participate in our Platform Action Alerts.
  • Ask our Government Relations Team questions - reply to this email with any question.
To that end, Kirk will be sharing a short YouTube message a couple of times each month, and whenever important issues arise.  Our goal is to keep you informed and to share impacts of potential legislation.

Sincerely,

Your Government Relations Team
 
Grace Keliher
Denise Dittrich
Kimberley Lewis


Minnesota School Boards Association | 507-934-8133 | klewis@mnmsba.org | http://www.mnmsba.org
145 University Avenue West
St. Paul, MN 55103
Like us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Stay informed with 
 

Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved.