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Senator Ropes talks about end of session
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By Daniel McGonigle
Argus Managing Editor
“We had an historic and productive session and we finished on time,” said Senator Sharon Ropes, DFL-Winona of this past legislative session.
Ropes was in town to discuss the session with local officials and said “the session was filled with compromise and bi-partisan cooperation.”
Highlights
The senate passed property tax relief in the form of levy limits of 3.9% for three years.
The senate also provided a $51 per student increase in their per-pupil aid dollars.
“We have focused on the most fundamental needs of our state when balancing the budget,” noted Ropes. “We’ve done this by protecting our schools and our most vulnerable during difficult budget times.”
“The Senate did more than hold nursing homes harmless, we provided more funding for all nursing homes,” she said. “They will receive a 2% cost-of-living allowance for their employees.”
Rebasing of nursing homes, a process of matching state reimbursement with actual costs of the facility, will begin in FY 2009.
Caledonia Area Schools
Ropes met with Superintendent Mike Moriarty and Principal Ron Helmers to discuss their local concerns.
While the district will benefit from the additional $51 in per-pupil aid (it will amount to about $49,000 for CAS), the money is a one-time funding and will only keep up with fuel costs.
“It isn’t perfect, but at least you won’t go backwards in relation to these fuel costs,” said Ropes.
Doing something about the rising fuel costs is something Ropes said the Senate looked really hard at trying to accomplish.
“People who drive from Caledonia to La Crosse are making changes,” she said. “They are starting to fill up $20 a time instead of filling all the way up. And people are spending less.”
Ropes did say the Senate plans to put something on the governor’s desk which could make the $51 increase more permanent.
“We’re glad to hear you’re going in fighting this,” said Moriarty. “Our enrollment will continue to decline for the next couple of years and we can’t keep going back to our voters.”
Overall, Ropes said the session was a success.
“People sent us here to unite our state and make it stronger and more prosperous,” she said. “We did that by providing additional funding for our classrooms, making sure 12,000 Minnesotans have access to affordable health care, providing property tax relief and helping to create thousands of jobs.”
You can contact Daniel McGonigle at
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-- What a great idea. In fact, I've decided to go even further and only put in $2 of gas at a time. Can you imagine all the money I'll save? It's nice to see that the people of SE MN have put such a financially savvy person in the state Senate. Tschumper and Ropes should do a standup comedy act together. They can talk about all the wonderful things that the Democrats are going to do for people. Hilarious!