2010 Legislative Session Wrap-Up

The Minnesota Business Partnership entered the 2010 legislative session focused on reform in each of our policy areas. The global recession and the state’s budget deficit had everyone talking about “jobs” and how to create more of them in Minnesota. The Obama Administration’s Race to the Top program helped the Partnership create a broad, bipartisan coalition supporting education reforms aligned with our Minnesota’s Future Initiative. And the intense national debate over health care reform spilled into Minnesota’s legislative session, where lawmakers wrestled with the potential impact on Minnesota. In the end, it was a productive session. We scored some victories, including the first real tax reform in five years; we stopped some damaging legislation; and we set the stage for a robust campaign season focused on the same issues we are – education, taxes and spending, and health care.

Special thanks to . . . MBP Chair Doug Baker (Ecolab),  Education Policy Chair John Stanoch (Qwest), Fiscal Policy Chair Ken Powell (General Mills), Health Policy Co-Chairs Pat Geraghty (Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN) and Randy Hogan (Pentair), and all the members who provided us with guidance, support and leadership. . . to the entire MBP Education Policy Committee and more than 100 business, community, foundation and education leaders for their support of meaningful education reform . . . to our health plan and health care provider members who found themselves in challenging positions and worked with us to find options for moving forward on  very difficult issues . . . to those of you who would have been impacted by proposed corporate tax increases for working with us to convey the impact of those increases on your organizations . . . to Governor Pawlenty, legislators and staffers on both sides of the aisle for their hard work and dedication to making Minnesota a great state. 

Fiscal Policy: Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature closed a $3 billion budget gap through a combination of spending shifts and budget cuts – and no general fund tax increases. More.  

Education Policy: The Partnership began the Legislative Session hopeful that Minnesota would receive one of the Obama Administration’s initial Race to the Top grants, which would generate public support – and $330 million in federal funds – for education reforms consistent with our Minnesota’s Future Initiative. More.

Health Policy: The Partnership and our health sector members entered the legislative session with an eye on the national debate over federal health care reform. More.