The Minnesota Senate this week approved comprehensive budgets that fund roads and bridges, higher education, and agriculture programs throughout the state. The bills work to keep college affordable for students and give them the support they need to be prepared for today’s workforce; invest billions into the state’s transportation infrastructure without a gas tax, mileage tax, sales tax, or license tab fee increase; and help Minnesota farmers while spurring innovation in the agriculture industry.
“I remain committed to working across the aisle to get things done for Minnesotans, and that is reflected in these budget agreements,” said Senate President Jeremy Miller (R-Winona). “Whether it’s fixing transportation infrastructure, making college more affordable, or supporting the ag communities that are the lifeblood of our state, the next state budget will be incredibly beneficial to Minnesotans.”
TRANSPORATION
The transportation budget agreement provides $7.8 billion for state roads, including construction, development, and maintenance. That includes $3.68 billion for State Road Construction and $300 million for Corridors of Commerce. The bill also provides an additional $14 million for local bridges and an additional $5.5 million for the Local Road Improvement Program, as well as an additional $30 million for small city and township roads.
Notably, the bill includes Senator Miller’s proposal to provide $10 million to fund the state’s share of a significant overhaul of southeast Minnesota rail infrastructure, including communication and signaling, extensions of rail sidings, improvements of at-grade crossings, extensions of yard lead track, and reconstruction and modification of new turnouts and mainline track. The improvements would provide significant freight rail upgrades and further the development of additional passenger rail service between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
Senate Republicans fought to improve convenience and ease stress for Minnesota drivers this session. The final transportation budget includes several of those priorities, such as allowing Minnesotans to purchase their license tabs and replacement license plates from fully-automated kiosks; permitting driver’s education students to take the classroom portion of their instruction online; creating a pilot program where Minnesotans could receive their standard driver’s license card the same day they renew their license or pass their driving test; and reopening all recently-closed exam stations to deal with the testing backlog. The bill also provides funding to improve speeds and reduce wait times at local DMV offices by adding more staff.
The bill includes $15 million to protect children at school bus stops by equipping Minnesota school buses with outward-facing cameras to catch stop-arm violators. The provision would likely make Minnesota the first state in the nation to install cameras in all its buses. The bill also provides $7 million dollars for the successful Safe Routes to Schools program, which aims to improve student safety and reduce traffic near schools.
AGRICULTURE
The budget will help promote Minnesota’s own homegrown fuels, like E-15, by providing grant money to improve Minnesota’s biofuel infrastructure, allowing more gas stations to install the equipment to dispense biofuels. The legislation also responds to fix vulnerabilities in our Ag sector supply chains that were exposed during the pandemic. The bill makes critical investments in meat processors which will help provide more jobs, improve our processing efficiency, and provide more purchasing options for consumers.
The bill allows for increased outreach to emerging farmers and provides translation services to cottage food producers. Additionally, the comprehensive budget agreement provides farm safety grants and mental health funding, provides investments to continue battling noxious weeds, gives additional resources to boost international trade, and allows for greater funding of farm-to-school programming.
The Senate held firm against proposals by the House and Governor to burden Minnesota farmers. The bill does not increase fees on pesticides as proposed by the House and Governor Walz, while still making additional investments for Minnesota Department of Agriculture laboratory equipment. There are no new restrictions on treated seeds, something pushed by the House even though it would have had a major negative impact on Minnesota’s agricultural sector.
HIGHER EDUCATION
The higher education budget focuses on increasing college affordability by providing stable funding for public institutions and making significant investments in direct student aid. The legislation caps tuition increases at a maximum of 3.5% per year. Furthermore, the agreement provides an additional $5.4 million in direct support for small campuses in Greater Minnesota to help them meet their students’ needs.
The budget increases grant awards for low- and middle-income families by $26 million by increasing the living expense allowance and decreasing the amount middle-class families are asked to pay. The budget includes the creation of the “Fostering Independence Grant” program to ensure students who were in foster care as teenagers can go to college at no cost. Finally, the bill increases funding to a variety of scholarship programs by $11 million and requires four additional colleges to implement zero-cost textbook degrees.
The Senate-House agreed-upon budget also targets students struggling with their mental health, small emergencies, and housing and food insecurity. The legislation invests $2.5 million in new mental health and basic needs programs. It expands the Hunger Free Campus designation to all public, private, and tribal colleges in Minnesota and creates a competitive grant to increase access to food for low-income college students struggling with food insecurity. Additionally, it increases emergency grant aid to help students get through small emergencies without dropping out of college.