Sen. Mike Goggin (R-Red Wing) and his Senate Republican colleagues last night continued making progress on their Advancing Minnesota agenda with the passage of two budget bills to fund three important areas of government. Senate File 803 provides $2.23 billion to public safety, corrections, and the courts, while Senate File 2214 boosts funding to Minnesota’s Higher Education system by $100 million.

Senate File 803 is the Judiciary and Public Safety budget, which focuses on safe communities.

“There is no greater responsibility we have than keeping people safe,” said Sen. Goggin. “With a surge of threats and crime stories in the news frequently, it’s important we make sure our public safety and corrections departments get the funding they need to protect their communities.”

New funding in the Judiciary budget bill includes:

• $6 million to strengthen supervision of offenders on probation
• $1.1 million to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for more analysts to assist in complex narcotics and homicide investigations, a forensic firearms examiner, and a drug chemistry forensic scientist
• $1 million for Violent Crime Enforcement Teams to fight narcotics traffickers, gangs, and other violent crime
• $160,000 for reimbursements to Minnesota’s expert FBI-trained bomb squads
• $720,000 for law enforcement officer training
• $150,000 for non-profit security grants to combat terroristic threats
• $3 million for critical technology upgrades at the Department of Corrections.

Senate File 2214, the Higher Education Budget, invests a total of $3.17 billion to ease costs on students, address our growing workforce shortage, and encourage new research and innovation advancements.

“Our higher education institutions are what drive a strong economy,” added Sen. Goggin. “They help us build and retain a strong workforce, and train our future leaders. I’m glad we were able to give our colleges, universities, and – most importantly – our students, the tools they need to be successful.”

Provisions in the Higher Education budget include:

• $10 million for the Minnesota State Grant program to help make college more affordable
• A two-year tuition freeze at Minnesota State institutions
• $350,000 for emergency financial assistance for students facing homelessness.
• $6 million for spinal cord and traumatic brain injury research
• $4 million for the Minnesota Discovery, Research, and InnoVation Economy program at the University of Minnesota for advanced cancer research
• $2 million to expand research by the Natural Resources Research Institute on agriculture, forestry, mining, and water resources.