Conference Committee Begins
We have Ignition, but Have Not Reached Orbit. The E-12 conference committee began its deliberations this morning and the committee made it about two-thirds of the way through the side-by-side comparisons of the bill before recessing for floor session. Floor session ran long and the decision was made to adjourn for the day and reconvene tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 8:30 AM. Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Willie Jett testified on behalf of the administration and the most interesting wrinkle in his testimony was the administration’s preference for the House’s position on the general education basic formula of 4% for the 2023-2024 school year, 2% for the 2024-25 school year, with future increases beyond that tied to the rate of inflation. That doesn’t necessarily mean that will end up being the decision made by the conference committee, but once the decision on the formula is made, things will likely fall together quickly. The plan is to finish the side-by-side tomorrow and after that, there will be a question as to how quickly things proceed. There are a number of fairly non-controversial policy items that are in both bills that could meet with early approval, but anything with money attached to it will probably have to wait until the larger budget items are resolved.
Here are the documents that were distributed at the meeting this morning:
Budget Change Items Comparison
I hope to give daily updates on the conference committee proceedings, so stay tuned. I announce my new blog entries on my Twitter feed: @Lundellleg