Legislative Update
April 27, 2004
This week
Today, President Bruininks is making a community visit to St. Cloud. He is meeting with the presidents of area private and public higher institutions to discuss common higher education issues; speaking to the St. Cloud Area Chamber and St. Cloud Rotary Club; holding a roundtable discussion on research and discovery with local business leaders, entrepreneurs and others; visiting the Regional Extension Center; and attending an alumni reception.
On Wednesday, President Bruininks will travel to northern Dakota County to speak at a chamber and rotary luncheon; convene a roundtable discussion on the University’s healthy foods, healthy lives initiative; and meet with newly admitted freshmen and their parents at an ice cream social at Henry Sibley High School. Area legislators have been invited to both events.
The House Capital Ways and Means Committee meets Tuesday afternoon to consider the House capital bonding bill, which will be on the House floor for debate and a vote on Thursday. We are expecting the Senate to take up its bonding bill next week, which would put the bonding bill in conference committee the week of May 3.
This coming Sunday, May 2, at 6 p.m. Twin Cities Public Television will re-broadcast the public forum on stem cell research that was held two weeks ago on the Twin Cities campus. The forum is moderated by Senior Vice President Frank Cerra. Panel members include Catherine Verfaillie, director of the Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Center for Bioethics, and Steven Calvin, co-chair of the Program in Human Rights in Medicine.
Grassroots Activity
The upcoming weeks are pivotal to the University’s legislative request, with final votes expected on the bonding bill, and the convening of a conference committee. In preparation for this critical time, the Legislative Network is trying to reach the 10,000-member mark before conference committee members are chosen. There are 9,185 members currently. Please urge your friends to join the Legislative Network by going to: http://www1.umn.edu/groots/background/taf.php
As well, it is critical that colleges, departments and individual faculty and staff are active over the next few weeks. There will be three calling nights in May to encourage supporters to contact conference committee members about the University’s capital request. Sign up for a calling night by going to: http://www1.umn.edu/groots/phone.php
Stadium update
The House Taxes Committee held a hearing on the Gopher-only stadium late yesterday (Monday) afternoon. This was the first hearing this session on the University’s proposal. President Bruininks, Coach Glen Mason, Athletics Director Joel Maturi, MSA President Eric Dyer and VP Pfutzenreuter spoke on behalf of the University. Committee members responded very favorably to the University’s presentation, citing it as a valuable project with a responsible financing plan.
We expect a Gopher-only stadium bill to be introduced by Representative Stang on Thursday.
Week in review
Last week, the House Capital Investment Committee passed their bonding recommendations for all state funded projects (this is the proposal that is being considered by Ways and Means today).
Not only was the overall bonding bill larger than the Governor recommended, but the overall funding for higher education and that for the University both also exceeded the Governor’s recommendation. We expect an even larger bonding recommendation to pass the Senate.
In addition to the recommended projects in the higher education section of the bill, the University would receive $20 million for construction of a biotechnology research facility at the Mayo Clinic, as well as $570,000 for the Water Management Research Partnership with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Under this proposal, the University would receive $111.05 million in state funding. This is approximately 18% of the state’s total bonding bill, comparable to what we have received in previous years.
Combined with University-issued bonds totaling $26.145 million, the U’s total bonding package would be $137,195,000.