Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton July 20, the education finance bill will also end integration aid in the district.
Minnesota’s state government shutdown is over, and District 197 has a clearer picture of how the state’s new public education funding formula and other measures in the education spending bill will affect schools in the Mendota Heights-West St. Paul-Eagan School District. The biggest change resulting from the new law is a shift in the state’s overall funding of K-12 public education. Minnesota previously used a "70/30" formula to fund schools–meaning schools received 70 percent of the money owed them by the state in the current budget year and 30 percent of it the following year. Under the new bill, that formula becomes 60/40. The shift will delay $700 million in funding to K-12 schools until the next two-year budget cycle. Susan Brott, …
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Rick Hansen is the state representative for District 39A.
As part of the budget agreement negotiated by Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican legislative leadership, the Legislature considered a $500 million bonding bill, which will deliver much-needed infrastructure and public projects, while helping potentially create thousands of jobs. This was a bi-partisan bill that passed 112-16. I was pleased to vote for this infrastructure bill and signed on as a co-author. Fundamentally, infrastructure bonding bills are investments in our future. They help build, repair and maintain the facilities our children and grandchildren will use at our public colleges and universities. These investments help build the roads, bridges, and transit systems that help our families get around safely, and allow businesses…
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Losses of state aid to the county as well as funding for the Market Value Homestead Credit come as no surprise.
- GOVERNMENT
- Tom Egan
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Editor's Note: Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan represents Mendota Heights, Lilydale, Mendota and a portion of Eagan. He was elected to office in 2004 and is now serving his second four-year term. Egan will write regularly to Patch readers about county government. Now that the state budget has been resolved, commissioners are reviewing how the county's budget will be impacted. With a genuine sense of relief, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners gratefully looked this past week at the Minnesota state government shutdown through the rearview mirror. What remained to be done was a study of the impacts of the 2011 legislative session on Dakota County. To that end, the county board just completed a preliminary legislative wrap-up. …
Monday, July 25, 2011
A source of mobility for the condo's older residents is back in operation after modernization project.
Editor's Note: This article has been revised to correct inaccurate information. The state-government shutdown did not extend the length of time elevators at Lexington-Riverside have been closed, as originally reported, and the date of completion reported was incorrect. Patch editors put great effort into providing reliable information, and when mistakes occur, we’re committed to correcting errors in a transparent manner. An elevator modernization project at the 1077 building of Lexington-Riverside concluded Tuesday after a state inspector gave the work a stamp of approval. Residents have been living without elevator service in the six-story building since June 13, when the only elevator was closed to bring it up to the most recent code …
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Lexington-Riverside Condominium Office
1101 Sibley Memorial Hwy, Saint Paul, MN
/articles/updated-first-of-two-lexington-riverside-elevators-reopen
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Sunday, July 24, 2011
The state shutdown came to an end, planners are digging in for a farmers market this fall, and oh yeah, it was mighty hot.
The state government shutdown came to an end last week. A special session was announced Tuesday morning. After a marathon, overnight special session on Tuesday/Wednesday, Gov. Mark Dayton signed 12 finance bills to re-fund government operations. The deal struck was not without controversy. The state also struggled with record temperatures for most of the week. Plans for a farmers market in Mendota Heights continue to develop. A presentation to the city council Tuesday detailed some of the options being considered. It was announced Wednesday that Sun Country was sold to the family that owns Cambria countertops in southern Minnesota. Thursday morning, a routine police stop in Eagan turned into a high speed chase that ended when the suspect …
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
All 12 bills signed by Gov. Mark Dayton.
Insults were hurled. Accusations were made. Pleas were ignored. But in the end, the people’s business was finished. Gov. Mark Dayton just signed into law all 12 budget bills passed in the middle of the night Wednesday by the Minnesota House and Senate. Dayton’s signatures ended the shutdown of Minnesota government—at 20 days, it was the longest continuous shutdown of any state government in United States history. In the end, Dayton kept his promise that he wouldn’t sign any of the bills until all 12 had passed through both houses of the legislature. At the start of the marathon special session, it seemed as though the process would be over quickly. In its first hour, the Senate passed six of 12 bills while the House passed five. But by 1 a…
If a state budget is passed, all Minnesota Historical Society sites will reopen Saturday.
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) will reopen to the public on Saturday, July 23, contingent on the passage of a budget by the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton. That means the Sibley House Historic Site on Sibley Memorial Highway will be operational for the first time since the end of June. The Sibley House is open Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays 12:30 p.m.-4 p.m. from May 28-Sept. 5. Funding from the state comprises more than half of the Society’s operating budget. Their petition for funding to protect their holdings was approved by a special court shortly following the shutdown, but it did not provide funding to operate programming. All programs scheduled beginning Saturday will resume as initially planned, according to a …
The Senate is debating Health and Human Services, while the House is inspecting K-12 Education. Check back in the morning for further overnight results from the Legislature.
As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, eight bills were on their way to Gov. Mark Dayton's office to be signed into law. Two additional bills had been passed in the House but not the Senate. Dayton has said he would not sign any bills until all 12 had passed the House and Senate. Between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, the process was moving along smoothly. Within 45 minutes, the Senate passed six bills and the House passed five. Then they recessed. Lawmakers adjourned to discuss some of the most contentious and complex pieces of upcoming legislation. The bills: health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government. When the parties reconvened at 9:30 p.m., the finger-pointing began. “This budget is morally bankrupt…
The House and Senate are debating and passing omnibus bills in rapid fashion.
It took less than an hour’s work for Minnesota lawmakers, who reconvened this afternoon, to pass the first five bills that Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign. The House and Senate took their seats in the Legislature at around 3 p.m. Tuesday, opened the special session, observed a moment of silence for the late Sen. Linda Scheid (D-Brooklyn Park) and then recessed for more than three hours. When they reconvened at around 7 p.m., they got to work. Within an hour, the Senate had passed six bills; the House had passed five. The legislature then went into recess again. The House then passed the Legacy bill and sent that to the governor just before 11 p.m. As it stands now, listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them: …
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Local DFLers not happy with special session bills, tepid support for bonding bill.
Mendota Heights-area legislators said during today's recess that they aren’t thrilled with the source of revenue being used to balance the budget and end the state shutdown, and they’re not too happy with how the process has worked to the exclusion of the public and most legislators. Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP leadership reached an agreement last Thursday to increase school aid shifts by $700 million and issue tobacco revenue bonds of $700 million to clear a $1.4 billion gap between their budget agendas. “It’s not good legislation,” said Sen. Jim Metzen (D-District 39). He said that the bonds will cost the state $1.2 billion after interest. “The source of the additional dollars to me is suspect,” said Rep. Rick Hansen (D-District 39A). “The …
Ken Coy
9:51 am on Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tom - If I read this right it would mean that they would get $60 this year and $40 next (additional). That is, if your figure of $50 per year is accurate. more ›