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Legislative Update

Dear Neighbor,

Education in Minnesota is in peril. Across the board – whether you are talking about public school, non-public private, or home schooling – students are in jeopardy of losing the supports they need and our educational system is on an unsustainable path.

Even with record funding in the last budget cycle, schools across the state report having to make major cuts to teachers, staff, and programs. This is in large part because the 65-plus mandates Democrats placed on schools are crushing them.

To make matters worse, now Gov. Tim Walz proposes cuts to teachers’ merit-based pay by ending Q-Comp [ [link removed] ], along with eliminating non-public student aid and non-public transportation [ [link removed] ]. He also proposes a 5-percent reduction in special education transportation costs. 

All this, at a time when we’re already being informed by literally every stakeholder in education – board members, superintendents, administrators and teachers – that our system is approaching crisis. Districts are facing problematic cuts. Teachers and other staff are being laid off, and we are having trouble with teacher recruitment.

Many young people don't want anything to do with teaching because they know that they're not going to get paid well. They know that they're going to have to wait until they're 65 to retire, and they also know that they're going to be in a potentially hostile environment with students that don't face effective discipline.

These are all problems that are hanging in the air with very different solutions proposed by both sides. Meanwhile, with the $6 billion deficit that the Democrats created through their mismanagement of the $18 billion surplus over the last two years, it's highly unlikely that we'll be able to significantly increase funding to our schools.

In other words, we must get creative. Providing school districts with flexibility to best suit their particular budget needs is one example of how. Multiple districts I've talked to have reported fund balances in their nutrition programs in the millions of dollars, but they can't use it for anything else. It's a big problem. So I'm looking at supporting the ability for districts to make a one-time transfer of funds from that account to their general fund in order to stop the bleeding.

St Michael-Albertville is one of those districts that has a fund balance in its nutrition account. The time is going to come when the district, once again, asks voters to support an operational levy. It's going to be essential that we, the legislature, bring down the cost of that levy down for homeowners, so that voters feel comfortable providing our schools with the support that they need.

*Whistleblower website*

House Republicans are serious about clamping down on the gross misuse of tax dollars that is running rampant in our state. A new website (MNFraud.com [ [link removed] ]) allows citizens to participate in this process by confidentially reporting suspected fraud, waste and abuse within Minnesota’s state government.

As a member of a newly formed House committee that is working to address fraud in state programs, it has become quite clear we need to attack this problem from various angles. Sure, more stringent oversight in state agencies could help. But state officials can’t be everywhere and see everything. And more layers of bureaucracy on top of already ineffective bureaucracy can only take us so far.

That’s where citizens with boots on the ground can be invaluable. A well-placed tip could help us catch things upstream to cut off tax dollar misuse and mitigate losses. The information, including the identities of whistleblowers, is secure and protected, similar to a secure-payment processing website.

This is the age of electronic communications, and this website provides Minnesotans that convenience. People can simply file a tip, and we can take it from there, following up as necessary and triaging the information to the people who are best suited to take a closer look at what’s being reported. That element has been missing in our state programs in any meaningful sense and is one area of improvement we are making to better protect our tax dollars.

I hope this website serves the public well by delivering greater transparency and accountability taxpayers deserve.

Sincerely,

Walter






chamber

Please visit my personal legislative website at www.house.mn [ [link removed] ] for the latest news and information.





State Rep. Walter Hudson
2nd Floor, Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-1534







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