ST PAUL, Minn. — With just over a week remaining to the state's budget deadline and the threat of a government shutdown, lawmakers are making slow progress on a proposed two-year budget.
Ahead of July first, one place where progress was made was education spending.
The deal calls for a 2.5% in spending per student in its first year, and then an additional 2% increase in the second year. This would send about a billion dollars in new money into the state's public schools.
The bill would also boost school spending aimed at hiring and retaining Black, Indigenous and other teachers of color.
"We are waiting for the nonpartisan revisor and fiscal staff to help turn that into a bill and that will take some time," said House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL- Brooklyn Park. "So it will be couple days for people to see what that looks like."
The GOP made a sacrifice on an issue of their choice, however. School choice vouchers, which would have sent taxpayer money to families for private education, won't be in the budget this time around.
"They're not spending money on mandates with the formula increase they got," said Senate Education Chair Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes. "They can use that formula increase for the stuff they need and that's right in the classroom."
Another big agreement is a plan to give bonuses to frontline workers who stayed on the job during the COVID pandemic
Minnesota Public Radio reports a panel is being set up to decide which workers will be eligible, and how much money would be in those bonuses. The goal is having those decisions made by Labor Day, according to MPR.
The two-year budget is made up of 12 different spending bills, and needs to be passed by July 1 to avoid a government shutdown.