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o <br /> <br />- F ri dayF ax - <br /> <br />A weekly legislative update from the League of Minnesota Cities <br /> <br />Please enter the parking lot from <br />University Ave., where staffwill provide <br />participants a parking permit, a map and <br />directions to reserved parking areas. <br /> <br />Check out the League web site, <br />www.lmnc.org, for more information. <br /> <br /> April 4, 2OO3 <br />Page 2 <br />homes and other programs for the elderly. At <br />this time, we do not have any detailed <br />information on how the $91 million will be <br />distributed between cities and counties. We do <br />not expect any detailed information to be <br />available until the tax committee marks up their <br />committee bill in the next several weeks. <br /> <br />Ways and Means begins final budget <br />push <br />On Thursday, the House Republican Caucus <br />unveiled the outlines of their plan to balance <br />the state budget and mitigate some of the deep <br />cuts included in Governor Pawlenty's budget-- <br />including the restoration of some of the cuts for <br />cities and counties as well as higher education <br />and nursing homes. The plan was adopted by <br />the House Ways and Means Committee on late <br />Thursday. <br /> <br />At least publicly, the House plan is little more <br />than a broad outline of how much the state will <br />spend on broad categories of state spending. <br />Over the next several weeks, additional <br />information will be unveiled as committees <br />develop their plans around the targets. <br /> <br />Consistent with the Governor, the plan does not <br />involve any new taxes but instead, relies on <br />revenue from a proposed casino at the <br />Canterbury Downs racetrack in Shakopee to <br />cushion the budget cuts. The plan also <br />addresses the state deficit by proposing a two- <br />year freeze in spending for state employee <br />health insurance, a reduction in the state <br />vehicle fleet and reductions in "low-priority" <br />programs such as the income tax political <br />check-off. <br /> <br />The plan would restore $91 million in state aid <br />to cities and counties, $50 million for higher <br />education programs and $70 million for nursing <br /> <br />The plan would also establish an "internet <br />auction" procedure where vendors would <br />compete and bid online to provide goods and <br />services to the state. Coincidentally, earlier this <br />year when we surveyed our members for <br />streamlining ideas, many of our city officials <br />suggested a similar process for city purchases. <br /> <br />During the Ways and Means committee <br />discussion, House Democrats raised concerns <br />about the reliability of the state's tobacco <br />settlement in the wake of a recent Illinois state <br />judge's order that Philip Morris post a $12 <br />billion bond in order to appeal a recent class <br />action lawsuit defeat. In response to that <br />judge's order, Philip Morris suggested that the <br />requirement could force the company into <br />bankruptcy and jeopardize the tobacco <br />settlements. Representative Abrams <br />acknowledged the issue and indicated that the <br />status of the Illinois lawsuit would be closely <br />monitored. <br /> <br />Where's the bill? <br />This week's legislative activities included <br />dozens of hearings on hundreds of bills. With <br />hearings extending into late afternoon on <br />Friday, we decided to briefly summarize the <br />status of a few of the most visible bills of <br />interest to cities in the table on the next page. <br />Next week-- which marks the second <br />committee deadline--we will have more <br />information on these and other bills in the <br />Cities Bulletin. <br /> <br />For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations team. <br /> 651.281.1200 or 800.925.1122 <br /> <br /> <br />