As the legislature works to assemble a final state budget agreement, Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) will serve on the conference committee for the E-12 education bill. The conference committee, which includes five members of each legislative body, is responsible for working out a compromise on differences in the budget bills passed by the House and the Senate. 

“As a father of four, education has been one of my top priorities since entering the Senate, and I am honored to be at the table as we navigate a path forward,” said Senator Eichorn. “As we work through the process, I am optimistic that we can craft an education budget that doesn’t break the bank but provides opportunities for all of Minnesota’s students and prepares them for the jobs and opportunities of tomorrow.” 

At the start of the month, the Minnesota Senate passed a comprehensive E-12 education budget that spends $19.78 billion over the next two years on Minnesota’s educational needs. The budget represents historic funding increases for education without a state tax increase, without local property tax increases and new unfunded mandates placed on local schools. The Senate bill provides additional money in safe schools revenue that may be used for a wide variety of facility and programming purposes that improve safety and also provides resources to improve literacy by replacing soon-to-expire early childhood slots with parent-empowering Early Learning Scholarships.

Conference committees will begin meeting this week and will continue until an agreement is reached. After a conference committee has passed compromise legislation, both legislative bodies must vote to approve the agreement before sending it to the governor for a signature or veto. The legislature is constitutionally-mandated to adjourn by May 20.