This week, conference committees continued to meet on the budget bills discussing the similarities and differences between the House and Senate proposals. The focus now turns to discussions between Governor Walz and legislative leaders.
There are 10 days until the 2021 legislative session is constitutionally mandated to end on Monday, May 17.
This week, conference committees continued to meet on the budget bills discussing the similarities and differences between the House and Senate proposals. The focus now turns to discussions between Governor Walz and legislative leaders. The leaders will discuss the overall spending for each budget area and reach a framework for the state budget for the next two years. Until the leaders can reach consensus on the major finance and policy areas, the conference committees will not be able to finalize budget bills.
The higher education conference committee met once this week to take public testimony on the House and Senate higher education omnibus budget bills. Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Myron Frans testified on behalf of the U of M, emphasizing the importance of fully funding the University’s legislative request.
The conference committee is now waiting for a joint budget target from leadership before they can resolve the remaining differences between the House and Senate budget bills. We are hopeful that once there is an agreement on final budget numbers, the conference committee can move quickly. Historically, the higher education omnibus budget bill is one of the first budget bills to pass in the biennium.