Budget Bills Passed in Senate, Now on to Policy Debates

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According to Lakeville’s State Sen. Dave Thompson (R-District 36), the senate has passed all 10 of the major budget bills for the biennium, which include 13 percent in spending reductions.

One of the biggest budget bills passed was the senate’s omnibus tax bill. Thompson said the measure makes $780 million in reductions while also providing property tax relief to homeowners.

But some of the senate’s proposed spending reductions may be felt near Lakeville. The senate is proposing a 15 percent cut in state funding to the Minnesota Zoo. The move, which amounts to $1.9 million over the biennium, would eliminate a major exhibit, according to the zoo.

Because of the uncertainty, the zoo has already decided not to have its seasonal butterfly exhibit this summer.

The house tax bill trims the zoo’s budget by 10 percent, and that would allow the zoo to absorb the cuts without noticeable reductions, officials at the zoo said.

The house, and senate will likely reconcile their budget bills after Easter break.

And while Thompson acknowledges there’s a ways to go on finding a veto-proof solution to Minnesota’s budget mess, he also says he’s looking forward to “digging into the policy debate.”

He started on Monday when a bill he’s chief author of was introduced that expands the role of public defender representation provisions.

Thompson is a lawyer, and the bill, SF 1154, expands the availability of public defenders to anyone who has committed a crime or is appealing a crime, who can’t afford their own attorney.

Meanwhile, in the house, both State Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-District 36B), of Farmington, and State Rep. Mary Liz Holberg (R-District 36A), of Lakeville, have been busy working an the house budget bills for 2011.