The Minnesota Legislature adjourned Sunday evening at 11:10 p.m. They were able to pass a bonding bill, stadium bills for the Gophers and Twins, a tax bill, a supplemental budget bill and several other policy bills over the past forty-eight hours. The Legislature was under pressure to erase the “do-nothing” image they had after a number of special sessions in recent years as well as the government shutdown last year. Legislative leaders missed all of their goals for adjournment, including wrapping up by 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Legislators did work all night Saturday but had to return Sunday night to pass the supplemental budget bill. Typically the Legislature does not meet on Sunday, although they had the ability to pass bills until Sunday at midnight. Despite the fact the Legislature ran up against their constitutional deadline, they were able to claim victory by passing all of their major bills.

On Thursday, legislative leaders agreed to split the $405 million generated from the heath impact fee between tax relief and supplemental spending. The agreement would provide $202.5 million for new spending and $202.5 million in tax reductions. The details of where the money would be spent were left to the members of the taxes and supplemental spending conference committees. An agreement on the bonding bill was reached late on Friday night. Conference committees were also able to approve legislation to build a new Twins stadium and a new Gophers stadium. All of the major bills were passed by 7:00 am Sunday morning except for the supplemental budget bill which continued to be negotiated throughout the day before its final passage Sunday evening.

Capitol Investment bill

The passage of the Capitol Investment bill is the Legislature’s main focus the second year of the biennium. A final agreement on the bill was reached Friday after Governor Pawlenty joined in the House and Senate negotiations. The bill that passed the House spends a total of $999.9 million on projects, verses the original Senate bill which spent $1.1 billion. The agreed upon bonding bill is a $1 billion dollar package with $949 million in general obligation bonds. State colleges and universities will receive $309 million from the bill for renovations and construction projects including $40 million to build the first of five bioscience research laboratories at the University of Minnesota. It provides $60 million to complete the Northstar commuter rail line from Minneapolis to Big Lake and $7.8 million for planning for the Central Corridor between downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. It also funds the expansion of the Faribault state prison, the Stillwater state prison and an expansion of the Shakopee women’s prison. Cultural projects funded in the bill include the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, the Schubert Performing Arts Center and the MacPhail music center. The bill also includes bonding for parks, trails and wildlife areas. One project that did not receive funding was the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center which had requested $34 million for an expansion. The bill was passed by the House 110-21 and the Senate 60-6 early Sunday morning.

Supplemental Spending Bill

Since the second year of the biennium is typically not a budget year, the Legislature can make adjustments as necessary to address any supplemental spending issues. This year, there was a strong desire to provide additional funding for sex offender programs, as well as some other key programs that were facing budget shortfalls. The Senate rolled all of their finance provisions into one supplemental spending bill. The threat of abortion amendments on the Senate Floor precipitated the Finance Committee pulling all of the Health and Human Services provisions out of the supplemental bill before it went to the Floor for final passage. The House originally planned to pass separate supplemental spending bills from each division but after those bills got bogged down with amendments they stripped out all of the finance provisions and rolled them into one bill as well. As a result, multiple policy provisions got left behind this year.

The supplemental budget conference committee was the last one to wrap up. They were still negotiating on Sunday morning to reach an agreement on the $202 million in additional spending. The supplemental bill funds sex-offender programs, pay raises for prison guards, a clean-water initiative and avian flu preparedness.

Twins Stadium

The Stadium conference committee returned to their respective bodies with a bill authorizing a Twins stadium alone. The Senate had originally passed a stadium bill that provided for a Vikings stadium in Blaine and a Twins stadium in downtown Minneapolis. The original House proposal included only the Twins. The Senate proposal would have imposed a half-cent sales tax in the seven county metropolitan area, with a voter referendum on the tax. The plan would pay for the two facilities with retractable roofs as well as fund the Metropolitan Council’s transit plan. That bill went to conference committee with the House bill that only authorized a Twins stadium. The Vikings proposal did not make it out of the conference committee but language was included to give Anoka County, the proposed location for a new Vikings stadium, the same sales tax exemption that Hennepin County received in this bill. The Senate conferees tried unsuccessfully to have a .5 percent metro-wide sales tax for transit be considered in the stadium conference committee. That issue was moved over to the Transportation conference committee which did not approve it.

The conference committee ultimately approved a $522 million Twins stadium plan. The bill authorizes a .15 percent Hennepin County sales tax to finance the stadium along with a $130 million dollar contribution from the Minnesota Twins. The new ballpark will be located in the warehouse district of Minneapolis. Hennepin County is given an exemption from the state requirement for a referendum on local sales taxes. There were concerns whether there would be enough votes for the bill to pass in the Senate but it was approved by a vote of 34-32. The House passed it on a 71-61 vote.

Gophers Stadium

Legislation was also approved to build a Gophers football stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. The new stadium will be located across from Mariucci Arena. The Senate approved the $248 million outdoor stadium by a vote of 43-24 and the House approved it 96-37. The bill provides for state payments of $10.3 million per year for twenty-five years to pay for its share of principal and interest. In return the state will receive a parcel of land in Rosemount that will be used as recreational land. The University will raise 45 percent of the stadium costs from donations, corporate sponsorships, parking revenues and student fees. The student fee will be $25 per year per student. The Stadium will be named TCF Bank Stadium and the local bank will pay $35 million for the naming rights as well as exclusive banking rights on campus. The Senate had proposed a 13 percent gross tax on sports memorabilia instead of the use of student fees and naming rights to fund the stadium. This idea was rejected by the conference committee.

Tax Bill

One of the legislature's top priorities this session was to provide property tax relief. They were not able to accomplish this goal as they negotiated a compromise on the tax bill. The House and Senate had passed two very different proposals to provide property tax relief. The Senate’s tax bill provided for one-time funding to provide relief for counties as well as $244 million in on-going aid for schools and local governments in the 2007-2008 biennium in order to help local governments. They paid for it by restricting the deduction for foreign operating corporations. The House proposed giving homeowners property tax rebates. The House tax bill provided for nine percent property tax rebates for homeowners that would be mailed out October 1st to coincide with property tax payments due on October 15th.

With a target of $202 million to spend on tax relief the conference committee was unable to agree on a way to provide property tax relief. They ended up spending most of the money on removing a marriage penalty that hits married couples who file joint income returns, and upper-middle class taxpayers who are required to pay the alternative minimum tax. They also adopted a number of federal tax conformity provisions. The bill set aside $30 million to reverse the June accelerated sales tax, an accounting shift that the Legislature put into place several years ago to solve a budget deficit.

Health Care

As the 2006 legislative session draws to a close, it may go on to be remembered as one that featured little change in health care policy. The legislature was successful in passing a bill to begin construction on a hospital in Maple Grove. Fairview Health Services and North Memorial Health Care will team up to build the 300 bed facility. Construction is expected to be completed in 2009. Legislators also passed a bill restricting radiation therapy facility construction by moving the expiration of a sunset provision from 2008 to 2013. This controversial measure is part of a campaign seeking to permanently require radiation therapy facilities to be constructed only by an entity owned, operated, or controlled by a licensed hospital. Representative Abeler and Senator Kiscaden passed legislation early on Sunday morning containing a number of policy provisions to target the rising cost of health care. The legislation was a product of the work Representative Abeler’s Health Care Cost Containment Division has done examining ways to cut health care costs in Minnesota.

The House and Senate health committees each crafted, then incrementally dismantled, health omnibus bills which could hardly be considered companion measures. The bills more so reflected starkly contrasted philosophies between the bodies about how to address the rising cost of health care in Minnesota. House Republicans maintain that the key to cost containment lies in the private market. Many Senate Democrats, on the other hand, favor universal health care coverage.

Eminent Domain

The conference committee agreed upon a report that will restrict government’s ability to take private property for non-public purposes. The eminent domain legislation has been prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that New London, Connecticut could use eminent domain to seize private homes to build a hotel and office park. Under the bill governments could still use eminent domain if properties are blighted, abandoned or environmentally contaminated. Landowners could be awarded attorneys fees when eminent domain is used improperly.

Retirements

The following members have announced their retirements:

Senate:
Michele Bachmann (R- Stillwater)
John Hottinger (D- St. Peter)
Bob Kierlin (R- Winona)
Sheila Kiscaden (IP- Rochester)
Becky Lourey (D- Kerrick)
Sharon Marko (D- Cottage Grove)
Jane Ranum (D- Minneapolis)
Wes Skoglund (D- Minneapolis)

House:
Ron Abrams (R- Minnetonka)
Fran Bradley (R- Rochester)
Jerry Dempsey (R- Red Wing)
Keith Ellison (D- Minneapolis)
Matt Entenza (D- St. Paul)
Barb Goodwin (D- Columbia Heights)
Jeff Johnson (R- Plymouth)
Ruth Johnson (D- St. Peter)
Jim Knoblach (R- St. Cloud)
Dan Larson (D- Bloomington)
Doug Meslow (R- White Bear Lake)
Scott Newman (R- Hutchinson)
Char Samuelson (R- New Brighton)
Katie Sieben (D- Newport)
Barb Sykora (R- Excelsior)
Ray Vandeveer (R- Forest Lake)
Andy Westerberg (R- Blaine)

Week ending May 19, 2006

House and Senate Leaders have until 7:00 am on Sunday morning to resolve most of the major bills of the 2006 Session. The Legislature is unable to pass any bills on Monday the final day of the biennium and Leadership has agreed to not meet on Sunday. Legislation remaining to be passed includes the bonding bill, supplemental spending, tax relief legislation and stadium legislation. In addition a number of smaller policy bills remain in play.

The Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling on the health impact fee this week gave the end of session negotiations a focus. The Court ruled that the state could continue to charge a health impact fee of 75 cents per pack of cigarettes. Had the Court decided not to overrule the lower court's decision it would have cost the state $405 million due to rebate fees the state would have been forced to pay. Legislative leaders have agreed to split that $405 million between tax relief and supplemental spending. The agreement reached late on Thursday night would provide $202.5 million for new spending and $202.5 million in tax reductions. The details of where the money is spent will be worked out by conference committees.

Week ending May 12, 2006

With fewer than ten days left until the constitutional deadline for adjournment, the Minnesota Legislature has a lot of work remaining. The Senate passed their supplemental budget bill on Monday paving the way for a supplemental budget conference committee. The conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills is meeting for the first time today. The bill passed off of the Senate floor 64-3.

Stadiums

On Tuesday the Senate passed bills authorizing stadiums for the Vikings and the Twins and a bill authorizing a U of M Gophers football stadium. HF 2480 (Kelley) provides for a Vikings stadium in Blaine and a Twins stadium in downtown Minneapolis. It would impose a half-cent sales tax in the seven county metropolitan area, with a voter referendum on the tax. The plan would pay for the two facilities with retractable roofs as well as fund the Metropolitan Council’s transit plan. The bill was passed by a 34-32 vote and has been sent to conference committee. SF 2460 (Pogemiller) provides for an on-campus stadium facility for the Gophers football team. The bill provides for state payments of $19.9 million per year. The cost would be generated by a 13 percent gross tax on sports memorabilia. The bill also prohibits the use of student fees and naming rights to fund the stadium, which the House had approved in their bill. The bill was passed by the Senate 34-32.

Eminent Domain

An eminent domain conference committee has wrapped up its work. The conference committee agreed upon a report that will restrict government’s ability to take private property for non-public purposes. The eminent domain legislation has been prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that New London, Connecticut could use eminent domain to seize private homes to build a hotel and office park. Under the bill, governments could still use eminent domain if properties are blighted, abandoned or environmentally contaminated. The bill is expected to be passed on the House and Senate floors early next week.

Week ending May 6, 2006

The Minnesota Legislature's constitutional deadline for adjournment is May 22nd. Despite the fact that there are only two weeks left in this session, there is still a lot of work to be done. Legislative leaders met this week and set May 17th –Syttende Mai, the Norwegian Independence Day- as their target date for adjournment. There have only been twelve bills signed into law so far despite the introduction of over fifteen hundred bills in each body this session.

The most important thing for legislators to get done this session is the bonding bill. The Capitol Investment Conference Committee met for the first time this week to try and work out the differences between the two bills. They discussed a proposal which contained a number of items that the House and Senate provided similar funding for in their bills. The House offered an additional proposal on Thursday hoping to kick-start negotiations. The bill that passed the House spent at total of $999.9 million on projects and the Senate bill spent $1.1 billion. Legislative leaders have discussed keeping the final bill below $1 billion.

On Monday the House passed their $88.8 million dollar supplemental budget bill. The proposed funding provides for deficiency items, emergency items, and items that have been mandated by the federal government. The bill provides $33 million to cover a shortfall in sex offender confinement and $31 million for treatment of a greater number of mentally ill and dangerous persons. The bill passed the House 103-29. The Senate, after stripping all of the policy provisions out of its' supplemental budget bill, still has not been able to pass it off the Senate floor. The two sides will not be able to conferee their supplemental budget bills until the Senate passes their bill.

Week ending April 21, 2006

Senate Tax Bill

The Minnesota Senate revived their tax bill, which was defeated on the Senate floor Wednesday by a 32-35 vote. The bill was passed on Thursday after language that would increase the statewide tax on businesses was removed from the bill. The bill provides for $154 million in one-time relief for counties this year. It also provides $244 million in on-going aid for schools and local governments in the 2007-2008 biennium. The bill raises $160 million this year and $123 million in the following years by restricting the foreign operating corporation deduction. Republicans complained that the foreign operating tax would stifle an international economy which Minnesota should encourage.

Budget Bills

The Senate Finance Committee wrapped all of the Senate’s budget provisions together into one large bill this week. The bill spends $200 million from the general fund and several million more from other funds to provide new funding in the 2006-07 biennium. It also provides for $337 million in additional spending for the next biennium. The Senate is expected to hear their budget bill on the Senator floor next Monday or Tuesday. The House has discussed pulling all of their finance provisions out of separate budget bills and rolling them into one supplemental budget bill in order to match up with the Senate.

Call Centers

Language that would regulate customer sales and call centers has been moving on several fronts. HF 471 (Atkins) would require, upon request of the customer, that customer call centers have to identity the state or country in which they are located. A person who calls a customer call center in a foreign country can request to speak to a call center located in the United States instead if they will need to provide financial, credit or identifying information. This week in the House Tax Committee, it was amended into the Public Safety Omnibus Bill. The language has also been amended into Representative Holberg’s HF 3487 Data Privacy Bill, which is currently on the House Floor. The companion legislation has already passed the Senate.

Week ending April 14, 2005

The Legislature is going to take an Easter break from Wednesday April 12, through Tuesday, April 18. Committees will not be meeting during that time so that members can go home.

The third committee deadline was on Wednesday for all omnibus bills to be out of their finance committees and into the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Committees. The Senate Finance Committee will meet next Tuesday to roll their finance bills together and pass it out to the floor as one bill. The House currently has separate bills moving for each division.

Senate Tax Committee

The Senate Tax Committee passed their omnibus bill, SF 3131 (Pogemiller) out of committee on Tuesday. The bill provides $200 million in tax relief this biennium and $300 million in tax relief in the next biennium. Property tax relief is provided through on-time funding of $60 million for counties for targeted case management and $78.1 million in one-time adjustments for LGA. It also provides tax relief to local government on an on-going basis with a package of tax relief and aids totaling $24.5 million in FY 05-06 and $295 million in FY 08-09. The bill raises revenue by changing the treatment of foreign operating corporations and freezing the commercial-industrial property tax rate at its’ 2004 level. The bill was passed to the Senate floor.

House Bonding Bill

The House Bonding bill was passed off the House floor on Wednesday by a 114-16 vote. The conference committee will be able to be appointed next week by the House and Senate so that they can begin conferencing the bill. A comparison of the Governor’s, Senate and House bonding proposals can be found on the House of Representative’s website at: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/fiscal/files/bond06.pdf

Week ending April 7, 2006

The second committee deadline was on Tuesday for bills to be out of all policy committees in the other body. The third and final committee deadline will be next Tuesday by when omnibus finance bills must be out of House and Senate finance committees. As a result, the action has shifted from policy committees to the budget committees and floor action.

House Budget Targets

The House released their budget targets this week. They are proposing to spend significantly less money than Governor recommended. Proposed Supplemental Spending above base budget for FY 2006-07 in thousands:

	House	Governor
K-12	$6,600	$27,454
Higher Ed	$4,800	$4,800
Health	$75,250	$97,340
Jobs	- $26,750	- $5,432
Ag	$1,000	$1,441
Environment	$10,500	$20,751
Transportation	$750	$7,349
Public Safety	$6,300	$20,281
State Government	$3,000	$11,975
Capital expenditures	$6,779	$11,149

The Senate does not officially pass budget targets. The House is planning on moving their budget bills, while the Senate is planning on passing on supplemental spending bill.

House Bonding Bill

The House released their bonding bill and passed it out of committee this week. The House bonding bill contains $949 million in general obligation bonding for a total of $999 million. The House bill contains $105 million more in general obligation spending than Governor Pawlenty’s proposal and $40.6 million less in general obligation bonds than the Senate. The House bill is roughly divided with a third spent on greater Minnesota projects, a third on statewide projects and a third on metropolitan area projects. The bill will be heard on the House floor next Wednesday, April 12.

Sales Tax Dedication

This week the Senate passed SF 2734 (Sams) which provides for a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to increase the state’s sales tax and dedicate the revenue to environmental and cultural resources. It would increase the sales tax by three-eighths of one percent for 25 years. The revenue generated would be dedicated with 34 percent going to improve, enhance and protect the state’s wildlife, habitat and wildlife tourism; 22 percent would go toward parks, trails and zoos; and 22 percent would be dedicated to the arts, museums and public broadcasting. The House’s bill dedicates existing sales tax revenue for conservation programs. In the House Tax Committee the bill was amended to include arts funding, a ban on same sex marriage and change the ballot question on transportation funding.

Week ending March 31, 2006

The first of three committee deadlines set by the House and Senate passed on Tuesday, March 28th, where bills were required to be out of policy committees in the house of origin by this date in order to be considered for further action. A more definitive number of live bills will be known following the next committee deadline on April 4th, in which all House and Senate bills must be out of all policy committees in the other body. The third and final committee deadline is April 11th, when omnibus finance bills must be out of House and Senate finance committees.

Eminent Domain

The Senate passed a bill on Monday that restricts local government’s ability to use eminent domain to take private property to be used for private development. The eminent domain legislation has been prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that New London, Connecticut could use eminent domain to seize private homes to build a hotel and office park. The legislation does allow for the use of eminent domain for public use and to clean up urban and environmentally blighted sights but it tightens up the definitions of when this allowable. The Senate bill passed the floor 62-2. The House is expected to pass their bill next week.

Gophers Stadium

The House Government Operations approved a bill that would bring football “back to campus” for the University of Minnesota. The U of M is proposing that the state purchase 2,800 acres of University land in Rosemount. The state would pay $9.4 million a year, for twenty-five years. The proposal also calls for a $25 fee each semester for U students. The House passed SF 263 (Abrams) to the Ways and Means Committee. The Senate heard two different proposals that would provide funding for a U of M stadium. The first, SF 237 (Michel) is the University’s new funding proposal. The second, SF 2460 (Pogemiller) primarily differs from Michel’s proposal in two provisions. The first difference is that Pogemiller’s bill provides a mitigation fund that would address the community costs for stadium related activities. The second difference is a prohibition from raising funds for the stadium through student fees or selling the naming rights. Both bills in the Senate were passed to the Finance Committee.

Week ending March 23, 2006

The Senate passed their Capitol Investment bill on Thursday. The bill contains $990 million in bonding projects, making it $145 million larger than the Governor’s proposal. Among the major provisions funded in the bill are $60 million for the Northstar commuter rail line, $41.3 million to expand Moose Lake Correctional Facility for dangerous sex offender housing and $40 million for a medical bioscience facility at the University of Minnesota. The bill was fast tracked through committee this week and passed on the Senate floor by a 56-9 vote. The House is aiming to pass their bonding bill the second week of April before the Easter break. Passage of the Capitol Investment bill is usually the main purpose of the second year of the biennium.

The House this week unveiled their budget resolution and passed it out of the Ways and Means Committee. Like the Governor’s proposal, the House budget resolution transfers $316 million from the tax relief account to the general fund. Instead of using a portion of the tax reserve surplus money for the budget reserve, the House dedicates all $316 million toward tax reductions, although that amount could remain unspent. The House is proposing an additional $88 million in spending, whereas the Governor proposed $197 in supplemental spending. The House’s resolution will leave the cash flow account with $350 million and the budget reserve with $653 million. The resolution still needs to be passed by the House floor.

Senate Republicans filed ethics charges against Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson this week. Johnson has been criticized after a taped conversation was released of him discussing conversations he had with members of the Supreme Court. He told other clergy that he had talked with the Supreme Court and they were not going to change Minnesota law which defines marriage between a man and a woman. It has created a firestorm of accusations that he improperly discussed this matter with the Supreme Court. Dean Johnson has since characterized his comments as embellishments and apologized.

Week ending March 17, 2006

The first full week of the 2006 Legislative Session was a full one. With the Governor's supplemental budget released and deadlines coming up, Session went into full swing. The first deadline is March 28th, which means that bills have to pass through all of the policy committees in one body. The next week will be busy with committees trying to act on bills before the first deadline.

Governor Pawlenty released his supplemental budget on Tuesday, which included a number of his initiatives he had previously announced. Pawlenty played it cautious by proposing $159 million go to the budget reserve, bringing it to $812 million. That puts some additional money on the bottom-line if the Health Impact Fee is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. However, both Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson and House Speaker Steve Sviggum expressed concerns that the state should be setting aside additional money to cover the potential $200 million dollar a year loss in revenue to the state. House Republicans and Senate Democrats are expected to release their own budget proposals in the next couple of weeks.

The Senate Elections Committee considered a bill this week, SF 2476 (Marty) Public's right to know, which would change a number of reporting requirements for lobbyists. It would require the reporting of all income by principals, including salaries and administrative expenses. It would require reporting of all contributions to candidates and parties by a lobbyist and contributions that were made at the direction of a lobbyist. It would also prohibit candidates who agree to spending limits from accepting lobbyist donations. The Committee heard testimony on the bill and will discuss it on March 20th, along with another proposal by Senator Higgins. SF 3212 (Higgins) contains a number of provisions designed to disclose to the public how lobbyists are influencing the political process. It includes restrictions on "conduit funds" which are defined as funds collected by an association from their employees and contributed to a PAC, political committee or party unit as directed by the employees.

Week ending March 10, 2006

The Legislature took a break on Monday and Tuesday so that members could attend precinct caucuses in their districts. Minnesota's political parties each hold their own caucuses to elect delegates to go onto endorsing conventions, discuss issues and elect local party leadership. Legislators returned from precinct caucuses on Wednesday ready to get back to work. Next week will be the first full week of this session and with only two and a half weeks left until the first committee deadline, the pace with speed up dramatically.

On Wednesday both the House and Senate passed a bill that would allow Minnesota's Department of Human Services to continue to cover drug costs for Minnesotans who have had glitches with the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program. About 100,000 Minnesotans who were previously under Medical Assistance were transitioned to the new federal program. Many dual eligible patients have had problems getting their prescriptions filled due to computer glitches and data problems. The legislation appropriates $575,000 for pharmacy and pharmacy related costs to continue to allow the state to be the payer of last resort until April 15.

The Governor gave his State of the State Address yesterday to a joint session of the Legislature. In his speech the Governor hinted at some of the items that he might include in his supplemental budget. A supplemental budget is often passed on non-budget years of the biennium to tweak the state's budget. Governor Pawlenty suggested providing $15 million dollars in grants to help small medical providers transition to electronic medical records and spending $10 million to help the state prepare for the bird flu.

The House unanimously passed a bill on Thursday that would bar protesting outside of funerals. The bill would make it illegal to protest within 1000 feet of a funeral. The legislation comes in response to a group from a Kansas church who protested outside of a soldier's funeral in Anoka. The Senate companion was passed out of the Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee on Thursday and sent to the Senate Floor.

Week ending March 3, 2006

The Minnesota Legislature began the 2006 Legislative Session on Wednesday. The Session began with a desire to move on from the gridlock that left the Legislature in a six week special session last summer. Among the first bills to be heard by committees was legislation that would keep the state running if the Legislature does not act. This would avoid the government shutdown that occurred last year. Governor Pawlenty has proposed performance pay for Legislators. In his proposal, if they do not pass a budget on time, neither Legislators nor the Governor will get paid until a deal is reached.

The February Forecast which was released on Tuesday, showed the state on track fiscally. The forecast showed the state with a $181 million surplus but current law requires the state to pay back school districts for accounting shifts leaving $88 million. House Republicans called for using the surplus for targeted tax relief and funding for the Clean Water Legacy Act to clean up polluted waters. Senate Democrats called for spending the surplus on property tax relief, early childhood education and a larger bonding bill. The Revenue forecast does assume that the state will prevail in the health impact fee lawsuit. The Supreme Court is going to hear the case in April and it is not known when they will rule in the case. If the Court rules against the state it will create a deficit of approximately $400 million in the general fund.

The Legislature has passed a Joint Resolution, to allow the House and Senate to recess until Wednesday at noon, so members can attend precinct caucuses in their districts. There will be no committee hearings or floor sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning next week. Once they return there will only be three weeks before the first committee deadline of March 28th which will intensify the committee schedules and pace.

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