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| Date: | March 29, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Chris Van Guilder | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-1388 | | Contact Email: | christopher.vanguilder@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATE PASSES ENVIRONMENT, COMMERCE AND ENERGY OMNIBUS BUDGET BILL |
St. Paul – The Senate Environment, Commerce and Energy omnibus finance budget bill for FY2012-13 passed in the State Senate by a vote of 37-28. The legislation, Senate File 1029, contains the general fund appropriations for the Environment and Natural Resources; Commerce and Consumer Protection; and Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications budget areas.
The legislation appropriates $203,931,000 of general fund dollars to the Environment and Natural Resources budget for FY2012-13.
Senate Environment and Natural Resources Chair Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) stated after the bill’s passage, “In these difficult economic times, we must take advantage of our opportunity to streamline government operations, reform services and improve the way government does business. It is important to fund priorities, reduce bureaucratic overhead and find savings by privatizing services. We wish to thank the constituents, advocacy groups and department officials who provided input and testimony in forming a budget that accomplishes these objectives."
The bill funds DNR enforcement, firefighting, efforts to investigate and combat aquatic invasive species and Chronic Wasting Disease, the Coon Rapids Dam commission and fully funding Red River flood damage grants and flood mitigation. The final budget bill avoids disproportionate cuts by implementing reductions of automatic spending by nearly 15 percent in each of the main budget areas.
Senator Ingebrigtsen added, “The importance of our priorities and the constraints of finite resources have led some to prepare for slight changes in the services that are offered within our area of the budget. Despite these changes, we have worked to ensure that we continue to preserve and protect the overall health and welfare of our natural resources. By making difficult choices and focusing on priorities today, we ensure a vibrant Minnesota outdoors tomorrow.”
The measure also contained the Commerce & Consumer Protection Omnibus bill in order to align it with a House companion. That portion contained Governor Dayton’s recommendations for extending the Petroleum Tank Cleanup Fund to June 30, 2017. The extension of the fund, which derives its revenue from a fee paid by licensed distributors in Minnesota, provides timely financial assistance to those who are cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater from leaking petroleum storage tanks.
Commerce Chair Chris Gerlach said one important consumer protection change will be the addition of five new examiners to audit Minnesota’s banks, credit unions and insurance companies to monitor and ensure solvency and financial strength. This adds no cost to the General Fund as the examinations are billed back to the financial institution, a current practice. Although not part of the Governor’s recommendations, the Department of Commerce supports this provision.
“Throughout this process, our two-fold goal was to preserve the core mission of consumer protection and, at the same time, strategically address the required budget reduction,” Senator Gerlach said.
The Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications portion of the bill contains funding to Governor Dayton’s recommendations. It funds the Public Utilities Commission, the Office of Energy Security and the Telecommunications section of the Department of Commerce, and designates funding from the Telecommunications Access Minnesota. It also designates funding to special revenue fund to various state agencies providing services to deaf, blind and hard of hearing Minnesotans.
Energy committee Chair Julie Rosen (R- Fairmont) said one of the highlights of the Energy portion of the bill was that the budget identifies $3.86 million in deficit reduction while increasing the capacity of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to expedite the processing of utility regulatory cases: “This bill helps the PUC speed up the process to make sure Minnesota's energy needs won’t get in the way of getting Minnesota moving again,” she said.
After passing in the Senate, counterparts to SF1029 must be voted on by the House. Differences between the two chambers will be resolved in a conference committee before being sent to the Governor for final consideration.
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