written by | Sarah Berns
Photo from Pioneer Press article. Read article here.
Minnesota has a new Governor and today kicks of the first day of the 2019 state legislative session. Yesterday Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan were sworn into office at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. This is the start of what will likely be a busy session as it is a budget year where the legislature will work with the governor to set the state budget for the next two years. The recent election changed the makeup of the House and Senate higher education committees. Those members are listed below:
Photo from Pioneer Press article. Read article here.
10. Lillie
11. Nornes (L)
12. Franson
13. Lucero
14. Layman
15. Runbeck
16. Quam
17. Daniels
House Higher Education Finance and Policy Division
1. Bernardy (Chair)
2. Pryor (VC)
3. Lien
4. Vang
5. Gomez
6. Wolgamott
7. T. Xiong
8. Klevorn
9. Poppe
Senate Higher Education Finance and Policy
1. Anderson, P. (Chair)
2. Draheim (VC)
3. Abeler
4. Jensen
5. Miller
6. Clausen (DFL Lead)
7. Cohen
8. Isaacson
9. Newton
As a reminder, Students United set its 2019 State Legislative Agenda in November. These are the priorities we will be focusing on during the upcoming legislative session:
Students United supports the Minnesota State 2019 Legislative Biennial Budget Request.
$37 million to support ISRS
$169 million to provide funding for programs and inflationary costs
$25 million to provide two new scholarship programs targeting enrollment and completion
“Mn State College Promise Program” for new and continuing college students
“Mn State University Transfer Scholarship” for transfer from our colleges to our universities
$15 million to address the workforce gap through innovative career, technical and professional programming serving business and industry
Students United is committed to advocating for the Legislature to uphold the Minnesota Statute Section 135A.01 that states it is the policy of the MN Legislature to fund 67% of the cost of public postsecondary education.
Students United supports increased funding for the State Grant for state university students.
If you are a state university student and are interested in advocating on higher education issues or are interested in expanding your advocacy skills, sign-up for our upcoming Advocacy Conference, February 23-24, 2019. REGISTER OR LEARN MORE HERE.