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ST TE OF M INNESOT

O ffice of Governor M ark Dayton

116 V eterans Service Bu ilding

20 W est 12th Street Saint Paul, MN 55155

May 19 , 2015

The Honorable Kurt Daudt

Speaker of the Hou se

463 State Office Bui lding

100 Rev Dr. Mart in Luther King Jr . B lvd

St . Paul , Minnesota 5515 5

Dear M r. Speaker:

I have vetoed an d am returning to you Ch apter 72, House File 844, a bil l related

to education finance

As I hav e said before, the bill 's total investment of 400 m illion is insu fficient

given the state s large surplus. In 2013, with a projected budget

defi it

of 62 7 million,

the spending increase above the base for E-12 education was 606 mil l ion. It is

astonishing that with a 1.9 billion surplu s, and more than 1 billion left on the bottom

for future tax cuts , there wou ld be less invested in our sch ools this year. And i t is

incompreh ensible that estate tax cuts for m ill ionaires and property tax relief for large

corporations are higher priorities for your House Republican Caucus than investing

adequately in our s tudents and you ng ch i ldren.

This bi l l omits the fo l lowing funding, wh ich I specified in m y M ay 15

t

email to

you and Senator Bakk (copy attached).

•

N o funding for el iminating the wait ing l is t of 250 0 low-income children for

Head S tart.

•

N o funding for the N orths ide Achievement Zone and St. Paul Promise

Neighborhood.

•

N o funding for Bureau of Indian Education schools and only meager funding

for American Indian students.

•

N o funding for Special Educat ion.

•

N o funding for Engl ish Learning programs.

•

No funding for free breakfasts for prekindergarten and first graders.

•

N o funding for Regional Centers which help our most s truggl ing schools

improve.

Voice: 651) 201-3400 or 800) 657-3717

ax: 651) 797-1850

N Relay 800) 627-3529

Website: http: /

/mn.gov/governor/

n Equal Opportunity Employer

Printed on

recycled paper containing 15 % post

consumer material and state government printed

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Speaker Kurt Daudt

May 19, 2015

Page 2

Also unacceptable is the absence of any version of voluntary, universal

prekindergarten which wil l help 47,00 0 4-year o lds , which has been my number one

priority in this session. Despite my willingnes s to move from fu ll-day to half-day

prekindergarten, and d espite my urging that we take a comprehensive approach to

educating young children, your bil l neglects the opportunity to make transformational

chang es for our 4-year olds.

Through out th is session, I have heard passionate rhetoric from you r members

about the u rgent need to close the ach ievement gap. This bi l l bel ies that rhetoric, and

instead ch ooses to sh ortchange our young est s tudents for future tax cuts .

Therefore, I am v etoing this bil l .

Mark

Dayton

Governor

Attachment

cc: Senator Sandra Pappas, President of the Senate

Senator Tom B akk, Senate M ajori ty Leader

Senator David H ann, Senate M inority Leader

Senator Charles W iger

Representat ive P aul Thissen, Hou se Minority Leader

Representative Jenifer Loon

The H onorable Steve Simon, Secretary of State

Ms. Joanne Zoff, Secretary of the Senate

M r. Patrick Mu rphy, Chief Clerk of the Hou se of Representatives

Michele Timmons, Revisor of Statutes