Terri Bonoff

The week ended with the Senate and House passing all of their omnibus finance bills, which Republican leaders felt was an accomplishment, according to a press release from non-partisan Public Information Services.

While Republicans were happy to pass the bills within the first week of April, DFL-ers didn’t share in the joy, the release said.

“I am concerned that the budget proposal that has been put forward completely eliminates budget reserves – the “rainy day account” that exists for emergency situations,” Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL- SD43/Minnetonka) said. “When the state can’t pay bills, it is forced to borrow from school districts or businesses – something that has happened more than once during the past two years.”

{ Katelynn Metz, Minnetonka Patch | Continue Reading }

The DFL also claims that the House budget will result in the loss of more than 30,000 jobs, while Republicans argued their focus had been retaining jobs while being more efficient.

The bills will now be heading to conference committees to be negotiated with House proposals. Governor Mark Dayton has said he will not weigh in until differences in the bills are negotiated between legislative bodies.

“These budget bills were not bipartisan bills, only increasing the potential that the Governor will not sign them,” Bonoff said however.

In other business, here’s a recap of the bills authored and co-authored by Minnetonka legislative representatives last week:

Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-District 43)

• On April 7, introduced as a co-author, SF 1130, a bill that would modify unemployment insurance and workforce development provisions. If this legislation passes the term “immediate family member” would grow to include a grandparent along with an individual's spouse, parent, stepparent, son or daughter, stepson or stepdaughter, or grandson or granddaughter.

{ Katelynn Metz, Minnetonka Patch | Continue Reading }