Legislature announces joint budget targets

Legislature announces joint budget targets

This morning, legislative leadership announced its joint budget targets for its omnibus budget bills. The agreement includes $125 million in new spending for higher education, a compromise between the House and Senate positions. In March, the House originally proposed $149 million and the Senate $100 million for higher education. 

Although the House and Senate have agreed upon budget targets, the legislature still must negotiate an agreement with the governor. Legislative leadership intends to negotiate with the governor before passing its omnibus budget bills out of conference committees, in order to avoid vetoes. 

The higher education committee is expected to announce its budget provisions on Monday, reflecting the $125 million budget target announced today. View a comparison of the budget proposals. The legislature must complete its work by midnight on May 22. 

U of M leaders testify in higher ed conference committee

On Tuesday, April 25, the higher education conference committee heard testimony on S.F. 2214, the higher ed omnibus conference bill. University of Minnesota Rochester chancellor Stephen Lehmkuhle testified in support of increased funding for the U of M, citing the University's statewide impact and its critical partnership with the state. Chancellor Lehmkuhle also testified in opposition to provisions on class rank admissions and prohibition of mandatory student fees. 

Next, Dr. Colin Campbell, associate professor and Faculty Consultative Committee chair, echoed concerns about the impact proposed funding levels would have on faculty and the University's competitiveness. Finally, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Robert McMaster and Associate Vice President and Budget Director Julie Tonneson addressed legislators' questions relating to admissions requirements and funding.

Higher education conference committee agrees to policy language changes

On Thursday, April 27, the conference committee met again to reconcile differences between House and Senate policy provisions. The committee voted to adopt the following policy provisions specific to the University of Minnesota:

• Request the U of M to prohibit mandatory student fees, with exceptions for administrative, academic, and health purposes, and penalize mandatory student fees with a state appropriation deduction
• Request the U of M to align tuition rates to the middle of the Big Ten for undergraduate and graduate students
• Request the Morris campus to create programs for the 2018-19 academic year for students with academic and developmental disabilities 
• Request a plan to increase outreach and recruitment of Greater Minnesota students at the Twin Cities campus
• Require an annual report on the University's use of human fetal tissue in research, and request the legislative auditor to audit the University's use of human fetal tissue
• Request fiscal balance in collective bargaining negotiations
• Clarify the statute on teaching or conducting research related to the practice of psychology
• Require additional reporting requirements in biennial budget proposals 
• Reduce base appropriation supporting bonds for the construction of the Bell Museum, resulting in a $188k/year reduction in operating expenses

#Driven4MN trends on Twitter

On Monday, April 24, the University of Minnesota launched a legislative advocacy day on Twitter. Students, alumni, staff, and other advocates across the state urged legislators to support the U of M's budget requests. Advocates sent 1,138 tweets with the hashtag #Driven4MN, which trended all day locally. Additionally, 20% of legislators on Twitter received direct tweets from constituents in support of the U of M. View the tweets.