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CS




Dear Neighbor,

It’s budget season in the House as we work to pass a new two-year state budget before our May 19 deadline to adjourn. Here’s a look at the latest on that subject and more from the Capitol:

*Great TeenPact event*

swedz [ [link removed] ]

Thank you to everyone who made the recent TeenPact [ [link removed] ] program at the Capitol a success with lessons on leadership, citizenship, and government. It was nice to see more than 110 participants this year, with a good, organic movement of families who individually decided to attend. House members and staff participated with students and shared a bit about their backgrounds. This included Rep. Ethan Cha and Chief Clerk Patrick Duffy Murphy.

Thanks again to everyone who attended, and to those who worked so hard to put on this event for our next generation of leaders.

swedz [ [link removed] ]

*Budget work*

With a 67-67 split in the House, bipartisanship is a must to achieve the 68 votes necessary for a bill to pass the body. That’s an added wrinkle as we continue working on bills that will finance various areas of the state budget the next two years. Bipartisan agreement on the overall budget framework includes the largest spending reduction in Minnesota history to address a looming shortfall and get our state spending on a more sustainable path.

pillars

The agreement includes a $4 billion cut from the current budget, with an additional $1.2 billion reduction in 2026-27. This reduced spending is essential after Democrats in full control of the Capitol spent the $18 billion surplus, raised taxes by $10 billion and increased the state budget by 40-percent in 2023. The state now has a $6 billion projected shortfall.

House Republicans will continue focusing on the six priority pillars which reflect the priorities of Minnesotans for the 2025 legislative session.

*Education budget*


swedz

"Enjoyed meeting with MHS teacher Brenda Kellen (above), who came to St. Paul on Tuesday to address pension issues. House Republicans conducted a press conference on the same issue that morning."

The House now will use broad terms of the agreement to assemble a series of finance bills to fund each section of the state budget for the two-year cycle starting July 1. Education is one area of the budget where different approaches will need to be ironed out. The governor proposes cutting education funding by more than $240 million in 2026-27 and $445 million more in 2028-29. This includes cutting merit-based teacher compensation (Q Comp), special education transportation, and non-public pupil support.

The problem is Minnesota students already continue falling behind with half of them unable to read or do math at grade-level. The former Democrat trifecta enacted 65-plus mandates that are only making it harder for school districts to focus on helping children succeed in the classroom. We need a different approach to support our children and that is why House Republicans have launched a Save Our Schools plan. A press conference [ [link removed] ] was conducted to outline the priorities we share with Minnesotans: local control, funding flexibility and mandate relief for our schools.

*Energy budget*

As chair of the House committee on energy, I continue working especially close to that subject and will provide more details in an upcoming newsletter. In short, my goal remains to reduce costs for energy ratepayers and eliminate taxes that only serve to fund special political projects in St. Paul.

We owe it to the people of Minnesota to pass good bills and get our work done by the deadline. We still have plenty of time to do our job if we focus on doing the right thing for Minnesotans and stay away from playing partisan games. I will continue opposing tax increases because our state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Look for more news from the Capitol soon and, as always, you also can follow my Facebook [ [link removed] ] page for more of my notes. From time to time I also post video updates on Facebook and you can click the image to the right for my latest.

Until next time, have a great weekend and let me know how I can help.

Sincerely,

Chris

swedz





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State Rep. Chris Swedzinski
2nd Floor, Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-5374







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