On Monday, May 15, Governor Dayton vetoed the higher education conference report passed by both the House and Senate earlier that day.
Governor vetoes higher education finance conference report; negotiations continue
On Monday, May 15, Governor Dayton vetoed the higher education conference report passed by both the House and Senate earlier that day. Read his veto message.
After negotiations between the governor and legislative leadership broke down late last week, the legislature passed each of its omnibus finance bills separately and sent them to the governor for consideration. The governor subsequently vetoed each of these bills, including the higher education bill. The parties have since continued their negotiations. The constitutional adjournment date is midnight on May 22. If a budget is not agreed to by then, a special session is necessary before July 1 to avoid a partial government shutdown.
The legislature's vetoed conference report appropriated $18.67 million to the University of Minnesota. The governor, however, recommended $96.8 million. View a comparison of the budget proposals.
House revises bonding proposal; adds UMD chemistry project
Yesterday, May 16, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a revised bonding bill that includes $58.3 million for the University of Minnesota: $30 million for HEAPR and $28.3 million for the Chemistry and Advanced Materials Science Building on the Duluth campus. The chemistry building project was added in the committee as part of a larger amendment raising the total cost of the bill from $600m to $800m in general obligation bonds.
The bill (HF 892) now moves to the full House for consideration. The Senate has also advanced a bonding bill to the full Senate floor (SF 210), where it awaits further action. If a bonding bill is to materialize this session, it will likely be as part of a larger budget deal between the governor and legislature.