One of the major reasons for the differences in the House and Senate bills is that the House is funding their bill and numerous other funding bills with tax increases. Senator Pappas often stated that she had to put together her bill with what dollars were available. It is expected that the Senate will have a tax increase and will appropriate more dollars to higher education. Of course all of this makes for a complicated conference committee. The Governor will play a role in the conference committees by signaling not only what he wants funded in all of the funding bills, but also what level funding he will accept in each bill. And of course, the big unknown is whether he will accept any tax increases.

Summary of items in the House Higher Education Omnibus Bill

• $4.5 million of the appropriation is to establish banded tuition at the Morris, Crookston and Duluth campus to reduce tuition costs for students. The Twin Cities campus currently has banded tuition.

• $7 million of the appropriation is for scholarships for middle class students for the purpose of mitigating the effects of rising tuition on students and their families. This appropriation must be matched with $2 of non-state money for each $1 of state money.

• $300,000 for the Center for Transportation Studies to complete a study to assess public policy options for reducing the volume of greenhouse gases emitted from the transportation sector in Minnesota.

• $500,000 is to establish an India Center, not unlike the current China Center.

• $750,000 is to fund the first phase of the neighborhood impact report.

• $2.35 million to the Agriculture & Extension Service State Special to promote alternative livestock research and outreach and to promote sustainable and organic agricultural research and education. In addition it is to fund research efforts that demonstrate a renewed emphasis on needs of the state’s production agriculture community and a continued focus on renewable energy and numerous other areas of interest.

• $200,000 to the System State Special for the industrial relations education.

• $300,000 to establish a Dakota language teacher training immersion program on the Twin Cities campus.

• The U/Mayo Partnership is funded with $10 million in one time dollars and $7 million each year of the biennium with ongoing dollars for a total of $24 million for the 08-09 biennium

• A Legislative Commission on Postsecondary Funding is established for the purpose of developing an alternative funding formula or funding method for postsecondary education. The commission will have 6 members from the House and 6 from the Senate. They will issue a report by June 30, 2008.

• Financial Aid: The tuition maximum was increased by 5 ½%; the living and miscellaneous expense was increased by $700/year; and the family share was reduced by ½%. All these changes should benefit University of Minnesota students.

• GI Bill for Veterans is established to provide assistance to Minnesota veterans and to the children and spouses of deceased and severely disabled Minnesota veterans. The aid per student cannot exceed $1250 per semester, $3,570 per state year, and $10,000 total.

• Language is included regarding the textbook pricing and access. It mandates information that publishers must provide to faculty members, if requested; information that instructors should make available to bookstores; and information that bookstores should make available for students.

• Hockey Heritage Surcharge: A surcharge of $0.25 is imposed on the sale of every ticket to a NCAA Division I men’s hockey event in the state to be used for the support of the Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth.

View entire bill here.