ST. PAUL — Bemidji's local government leaders and business representatives traveled to St. Paul on Wednesday, March 5, to lobby and share their legislative priorities.
Bemidji Day at the State Capitol is an annual event sponsored by the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce, which gathers input on legislative priorities for the region from local business and government leaders.
The plaid-clad Bemidjians clocked between 4 and 5 miles on their smart watches around an under-construction Capitol area as they met with legislators and their aides.
Due to significant snowfall earlier in the day, some appointments were adjusted to either sharing these priorities with legislative aides or a virtual meeting. The snow didn’t stop the Bemidji bus from arriving at the Capitol, though.
Bonding priorities included supporting Northern Township’s wastewater treatment project, with an ultimate goal of eliminating septic systems around Lake Bemidji. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is also looking to expand its Bemidji office, which serves a large swath of Northern Minnesota.
On the four-hour bus ride down, leaders discussed the legislative priority list. Unfunded state mandates — or requirements for counties or schools to enact without additional funding to complete them — can put additional pressures on already strained budgets. A major emphasis was placed on reducing or relieving new requirements without any dollars attached to them, particularly because of the current uncertainty around federal funding sources.
“We're seeing that in proposals coming out of the governor’s office, we’re seeing it in the repercussions of recently passed unfunded mandates at the state level,” said Beltrami County Administrator Tom Barry. “We're kind of looking more closely at that than we have in the past and realizing that the impacts are even far greater than we even imagined.”
“We have to get better at communicating those issues and concerns,” Barry said. “Which is why I so appreciate the Chamber and local area community members coming together and filling a bus, coming down to the Capitol and talking with legislators.”
During a meeting with House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, Bemidji School Board member Todd Haugen discussed education funding concerns.
As the school district is facing a more than $2 million operating shortfall, Haugen said districts need some help to cover the high costs of special education and transportation.
“So we fall behind by over $1 million [in transportation], that's just one part,” Haugen said "Special education is a huge thing for us, we want to do it, you know, no matter what, we don't want to not do it, but we lose a lot of money on that as well.”
“We fall behind on some of these mandates, especially with transportation funding.”
Hortman said amid the economic forecasts for the state as well as major changes for federal funding sources possibly on the horizon, she said there are some ideas, such as joining many other states in setting caps, to curb the costs of education.
“Minnesota is a generous state. ... We spend more than a lot of other states doing special education, and it's important and it’s a social value,” Hortman said. “But we've got to figure out how to get our special education expenses to not increase so much faster than the rate of inflation.”
Items like unfunded mandates and education funding formulas have frequently come up in other Bemidji Days at the Capitol, but Bemidji Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Scott Turn said every trip makes an impact.
"It doesn't matter where legislators are from, if [they’re] from the southern part of the state or northern or wherever, they do want to hear what's going on in Bemidji. They do care,” Turn said. “What I hope comes out of this is both Democrats and Republicans work a lot better together this year.”
“They might have to,” Turn added, acknowledging the closely split legislative bodies. “But I think they know that things didn't work out as well as they had hoped from last session.”
Bemidji Day, in addition to its signature look, always includes unique gifts for legislators and their aides. This year’s gift was a buffalo plaid fishing lure by local business JB Lures.
