Today, the Minnesota Senate passed Higher Education and Workforce Development legislation to help alleviate worker shortages, prepare students for worthwhile careers, and improve safety at Minnesota colleges and universities.  

“The higher education bill this year is focused on closing key workforce shortages,” Senator John Jasinski (R-Faribault) said. “We all are aware of the severe shortage of police officers that departments around the state are facing, and businesses everywhere are struggling to find workers. This bill addresses both of those issues, so we can get more skilled law enforcement officers on the streets and train the next generation of workers for high-demand careers.”

Owatonna Learn to Earn Coalition

The higher education bill includes legislation authored by Sen. Jasinski to provide $1 million for the Owatonna Learn to Earn Coalition. 

“When I talk to small businesses in our area, they tell me that one of the biggest challenges they are facing is a shortage of workers,” Jasinski said. “The pandemic certainly didn’t help, but many of these issues have been a problem for years – especially outside the metro. This innovative program will help Steele County build and retain a talented workforce for years to come.” 

That funding will be broken down as follows:

• $900,000 to develop educational learning spaces with state-of-the-art equipment and student support services in high-demand career pathway programs.
  • $306,000 is to equip the new Owatonna High School’s Industrial Technology classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment to introduce students to high-skill, high-wage, technical careers.
  • $594,000 is to equip the Owatonna Riverland Community College Campus with state-of-the-art instructional equipment to offer credit and non-credit technical programs in automation robotics engineering technology and information technology.

• $80,000 to create learn-to-earn opportunities for students and employers by engaging employers in the Owatonna community to offer tuition reimbursement or scholarships and part-time work and school schedules to employees who agree to continue their education while working for them.

• $20,000 to conduct a comprehensive local needs assessment to examine current and future workforce needs in the region. The coalition shall retain a consultant and utilize state demographer resources to involve education, business, and community stakeholders to guide the high school’s career pathways, the college’s programs of study, and the businesses’ support of work-based learning programs that help them recruit, develop, and retain a vibrant workforce to keep the regional economy strong.

Keeping Minnesotans Safe 

The bill makes a strong commitment to recruit more law enforcement officers to keep Minnesotans safe. 

The bill includes legislation authored by Sen. Jasinski that expands workforce development scholarships to include law enforcement careers. The bill provides $14.5 million for workforce development scholarships, including 7,500,000 that must be used for scholarships to students enrolled in a law enforcement program of study. 

The bill establishes a grant program for students pursuing law enforcement careers with an annual grant of $3,000. Eligible students must be enrolled in a law enforcement program and there is a limit to how much an individual can receive.

Across the nation, law enforcement positions are opening up faster than they can be replaced by retirement or resignation. The Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board Job page shows a remarkable number of openings for licensed peace officers across the state. Minneapolis and St. Paul alone have hundreds of open law enforcement positions to fill and the Chief of Police in Duluth called the shortage a crisis.  

The bill also includes funding to improve public safety at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Surging crime at the University of Minnesota is reaching new highs and is causing many parents and students to ask for more security on campus. The legislation will work to help every Minnesota student feel safe on their college campus.  

Getting Students Ready for Careers

The legislation establishes a skills path program to provide secondary students with a pathway from high school to careers in skilled work and trades. The Office of Higher Education will award grants of up to $50,000, to up to ten secondary schools annually for the skills path program. This funding will help students learn the skills they need for worthwhile careers in good-paying jobs and addresses workforce shortage needs. 

The Senate’s bill also invests heavily in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ workforce development scholarship program. These scholarships help students pursuing careers in high-demand sectors afford college.

The Higher Education bill also works to reduce the state achievement gap by providing more teaching opportunities for students from underrepresented populations. Addressing Minnesota’s large achievement gap is important to ensure every Minnesota student has the opportunity to learn the skills necessary for a good-paying job in the future.