Education Legislation

SEE Leads on School Levy Property Tax Bill

Update (3/28/22) HF4064 – The House Property Tax Committee included about $40 million a year in equalization for location optional revenue (LOR) in the property tax omnibus. The equalization is for the first $300 per pupil of the $724 per pupil levy and is based on 170% of the state average referendum market value, making the property tax relief permanent and ongoing. In recent years, this increase would have been significant. But given the state’s budget surplus, the amount is only modest. The legislature can do better.

Property tax relief for each school district
Bill language and adopted amendment
Bill summary without amendment

February 2022 – The SEE school levies tax relief and reform bill is here! Following is what the HF3224 legislation does.

Significantly lowers property taxes and makes future school levies more affordable in lower-property wealth school districts by increasing equalization. The impacted school levies are the voter-approved referendum, the board-approved location optional revenue (LOR), and debt-service (for building bonds).
Prevents the erosion of the property tax relief by indexing the formulas to inflation.
Increases the cap on LOR by $101, raising it from $724 to $825 per pupil for the next school year, and then increases the LOR revenue by the same percentage as increases to the basic formula.
Increases long-term facility maintenance (LTFM) by $120 to $500 per student next year and then links the funding to inflation after that. LTFM equalization is already highly equalized and linked to inflation.
Allows joint powers to be eligible for LTFM.
Allows consolidated school districts to qualify for enhanced debt service (formerly known as natural disaster debt service.)
Allows cooperatives and joint powers to qualify for leased levies.

HF3224 Talking Points and History
MN House Research revenue and property tax relief for all districts – assumes all school boards take the new location optional revenue (LOR) and the long-term facilities maintenance levy authority
Unofficial property tax relief for SEE school districts– does not include the impact of the new LOR and LTFM levy authority
MN House Research bill summary
Bill language
Bill status

Legislative Committee Meetings

Keep up on the education issues that legislative committees address.

SEE Side-by-Side Comparison

Compare the new funding priorities of the Governor, House, and Senate.

Education Finance and Policy Proposals

The Governor, House, and Senate each produce their own education bills that reflect their priorities. At the end of the session (or possibly in a special session), the three versions must be reconciled into a single education bill through negotiations.

The Governor's Education Bills

Governor’s Education Finance Omnibus

More Information: 1/28/22 SEE legislative update

Governor’s Education Policy Omnibus

Senate Education Bills

Senate Education Finance and Policy Omnibus – $32.4 million for 2022-23 and $1.4 million for the following two-year biennium

Two new spending proposals:

$30 million – grants for K-5 teachers to take the LETRS literacy training. (one-time)
$700,000 – to hire literacy support directors at each of the MDE Regional Centers of Support.

Additional Information:

SEE Side-by-Side Comparison of the House, Senate, and Governor’s New Education funding
Data run not available – only direct funding to school districts is about $2 per pupil to provide access to menstrual products for students in grades 4-12.
Bill Summary
Bill Language
Budget Provisions – Senate Research

House Education Bills

HF4300 – House Education Finance and Policy Omnibus – $1.2 billion for 2022-23 and $2.1 billion combined for the following two-year biennium

Highlights include:

SEE Side-by-Side Comparison of the House, Senate, and Governor’s New Education funding
Legislative Side-by-Side Summary of Complete Bills
$422 million – pays 55% of each districts special education cross subsidy.
$96 million – provides $100 per pupil for districts to hire student support staff
$77 million for voluntary pre-kindergarten for at risk 4 year old children.
$76 million – pays 40% of a district’s English language (EL) learners cross subsidy, scales to 100% by FY26.
See more in SEE’s side-by-side summary

Additional Information:

Other Notable Bills

Final Days of the 2022 Legislative Session

The Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, and the Governor agreed to $320 million annually in new funding for E-12 education, amounting to $1 billion over the next three years. Although the House and Senate traded multiple offers, they could not reach an agree.ment Between $200 to $265 million to fund the gap in special education funding, which would have benefited every student, was left on the table.

Special Education Cross Subsidy

HF2657 – the bill proposes to fully fund the special education cross subsidy – the unfunded cost of providing mandated special education services. This cross subsidy is the largest financial challenge facing public schools. With a $9.3 billion state budget surplus, it is time for the legislature to eliminate the cross subsidy rather than pass the cost down to lost educational opportunities for students and higher property taxes for the local taxpayer.