Legislative Update
Published 04-28-2009
Thanks to your advocacy efforts, one bill is passed, all that we proposed is still alive and funding cuts are minimal.
Type III Bus Bill (HF 116 / SF 33)
Passed and Signed by the Governor on 4/23/09. Link to the Governor’s Bill Log
Accessible Technology Bill (HF 1744 / SF 1600)
There are two parts to the bill:
- Requires that the state adopt 508 Standards and WCAG 2.0 Guidelines and set up an advisory committee that will make hardware, software, products and Websites accessible without causing an undue burden (too much cost- not technically feasible) to the state.
- Gives $100,000 to the Office of Enterprise Technology (OET) to coordinate the bill; $100,000 for MCDHH to make content available in ASL online and $100,000 for the legislature to caption its live streaming of legislative sessions. We used definitions for “accessible” and “accessibility” that are defined in Section 508 and the Web Content Access Guidelines Checklist
Senate: Next step the Senate Finance Committee – the policy part of the bill will be heard there. The Senate separated the TAM (Telecommunications Access Minnesota) funding part of the bill: Took out the funds that would go to OET and rolled it into their Environment and Energy Bill.
- We can’t get the bill passed if we don’t find the money to pay for the changes. We believe we have done that.
- We are waiting for a new fiscal note that will get the bill down to $200,000 – $300,000.
- We have found enough money to cover the costs that will occur as a result of this bill from the new Obama stimulus money through Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and from money in the TAM fund.
TAM Fund: the telephone tax fund that supports the Minnesota Relay Service, the Telephone Equipment Distribution Program, MCDHH and captioning for news broadcasts in Greater Minnesota.
- The first fiscal note was $270 million. We introduced an amendment that got the second note down to $500,000.
- We believe that the new language that we negotiated with the Office of Enterprise Technology (OET) and the Department of Administration will get the bill down to $200,000 – $300,000. Whew.
House: The House passed the bill out of three committees and has one final step; the Finance Committee. We believe once the new fiscal note is posted (soon we hope) that the bill will pass.
What’s next after the House and Senate Finance Committees? It will go to a conference committee so the House and the Senate versions match. We will need you to call your legislators to support the bill. Once it passes it will go to the Governor’s office.
What’s the schedule? We will have a hearing on May 4th in the House. We are not sure of the timing in the Senate.
Education Bill (HF 1212 / SF 1107)
- The House and the Senate both have the bill in their Omnibus bills.
- The Department of Education says that it will cost them $104,000 to collect data and to write a report that would recommend how to improve outcomes for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.
- We learned that school districts separate the data on students who are deaf and hard of hearing and believe that the Department of Education can do this.
- We also learned that it only took two staff people at the Iowa Department of Education ten days to write the report.
- We are currently in negotiations with the Department and will let you know of the results.
- Parents, commission members and advocates feel strongly about getting this bill passed.
Parent Guides
The bill would add parent guides to the blood spot fee that is charged for newborn hearing screening. This bill is in the House and Senate and the language is identical for both. It is looking good.
Funding
The deficit is really really bad. Deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind programs have taken some cuts, but very small. To give you perspective – many programs in other areas have been entirely eliminated or drastically reduced. We should feel lucky so far.
Because of your advocacy efforts the governor did not recommend major cuts to the programs and the legislators supported his position.
- Funding for Deaf, Hard of Hearing Services Division for deafblind, interpreting, and news captioning, down 3%.
- Minnesota Employment Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the VECTOR program for transition aged youth, down 3%.
- Funds for the deaf and hard of hearing program through the Youth Conservation Corp, down 4%.
- Funds to the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, down 2%.
MCN’s Charitable Tax Exemption Bill (HF 872 / SF 751)
The bill is now headed for Conference Committee as part of House Tax Omnibus Tax Bill and Senate Tax Omnibus Bill. In recent days before reaching this point, some of the language changed on the Senate side which means it will have to be negotiated during Conference Committee until both sides agree on identical language. Your support is needed now to ensure support of the House version.
The change in language relates to the “Northstar Six Factor Test” determining a nonprofit’s eligibility for tax exemption status. MCN, Dept. of Revenue, MN Assoc. of Assessing Officers, MCDHH and MN Nonprofit Organizations across the state support the House version which requires only a “reasonable justification” for some missing factors, while the Senate version requires “compelling factual reason” for some missing factors.
For complete update within Minnesota Council of Nonprofit’s Website, click here
