May 8, 2009 - This Week @ the Capitol
From Ready 4 K
Both the Education and Health and Human Conference Committees continue to meet irregularly, making it difficult for those following the committees to, well, follow them.
On a broader sense, DFLers continue to try to get the Governor to accept revenue increases, sending him their first bill of the year to increase taxes to pay for Education, Health Care and Long Term Care, which the Governor promptly and expectedly vetoed. To this point, consider joining Invest in Minnesota’s Rally Monday, May 11 at Noon. Invest in Minnesota’s non-profit, faith and labor communities will gather at the State Capitol Rotunda for a rally that demonstrates organizational and citizen commitment to raising revenues fairly to maintain adequate funding for jobs, dignity, and public services that meet essential needs in communities.
As was mentioned last week, some early care and education organizations submitted memos to conference committee members out lining our priorities. The memos can be found here.
Here are some other links to useful information:
Ready 4 K omnibus bill tracker (updated and organized by conference committee now)
Legislative side-by-side of bills
» Article 6 of the education bills—early childhood side-by-side
» Article 2 of the human services bills—child care side-by-side (article 13 includes federal stimulus dollar spending, and is not posted on-line yet)
Additional information from Invest in Minnesota:
If you are not able to make the Rally on Monday, May 11, but still want to support Invest in Minnesota’s work, use the legislative district finder to find email addresses for your legislators and send them the following message on May 11th at Noon:
“I am a constituent in your district. I am emailing to let you know that I support raising revenues fairly. We cannot solve the current budget shortfall without adequate funding for public services that Minnesotans count on to make ends meet. We need a balanced solution, including a balanced tax system where everyone pays their fair share. ”
Invest in Minnesota unites Minnesota’s faith community, labor and nonprofit organizations around raising revenue fairly. For more information, go to www.investinmn.org.
Visit Parents United to see the connection between E-12 funding and Invest in Minnesota’s work to raise revenues fairly.