ST. PAUL, MN – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the E-12 Education Budget and a standalone bill that funds unemployment insurance for hourly school workers like bus drivers, cafeteria staff, and paraprofessionals.
“This budget agreement reflects our commitment to Minnesota’s students at a time when public education is under attack at the federal level,” said State Representative Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), Co-Chair of the House Education Finance Committee. “Thanks to our work last session to link the education formula to inflation, Minnesota schools will still receive funding increases each year going forward, maintaining universal access to free school breakfast and lunch, as well as providing flexibility for our school districts.”
The House Education Budget includes several DFL and GOP initiatives that will increase the number of qualified special education teachers, fund roof repairs and replacements for schools with critical infrastructure needs, expand evidence-based math tutoring programs, and support youth engagement through programs like the Minnesota Youth Council and the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs.
Two years ago, lawmakers indexed per-pupil funding formula increases to inflation. As a result, Minnesota schools are set to receive a 2.7% increase next year and a 3% increase in 2026. This historic move gives school districts funding stability and predictability even during uncertain budget times.
The bipartisan agreement preserves Minnesota’s universal school meals program for every student in Minnesota, regardless of income. More than 150 million meals were served in the inaugural year of the program, saving Minnesota families an estimated $1,000 per student.
Video from today’s floor debate can be found here.
With four days to go in the 2025 session, legislative leaders and Governor Walz announced a budget agreement yesterday that would balance the budget for the 2026-27 biennium and erase 90% of the deficit projected for the 2028-29 biennium. Now that we have this financial roadmap solidified, conference committees can tie up loose ends and pass final budget bills to be sent to the governor.
Amid federal chaos and dysfunction at the White House, Minnesotans expect their elected leaders to work together, especially in times of divided government. By negotiating a bipartisan budget deal to conclude the work at the state level, Minnesota is demonstrating that governing is still possible even when we have major disagreements.
Don’t get me wrong; there are definitely things I’m not happy about in this agreement. If we were in charge, this budget deal would look a lot different. I would do a lot more to lower the cost of living for Minnesotans who just want to be able to afford a home, put food on the table, and take care of their family.
For my part, as the House Education Finance Co-Chair, I have been focused on getting a K-12 Education Finance bill across the finish line for the schools in our communities of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, and Edina, as well as schools across the state. We passed our the K-12 Education Finance bill off of the House floor this evening and will be working through the weekend to iron out the differences between our bill and the Senate Education Finance bill.
Floor Action
This week, as conference committees met while leaders negotiated a deal, we passed a few pieces of legislation off the House Floor. We passed the Health Policy bill, which expands the scope of practice for optometrists, allows newborns to be surrendered to some fire stations, removes a barrier to physician assistants to practice, and creates a path for nonprofit health care organizations to get capital funding.
We also passed a bill that would replace the statue of Henry Mower Rice in the U.S. Capitol with a statue of Hubert H. Humphrey upon approval by the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress. The Humphrey statue would match what is currently on the Capitol Complex in St. Paul. Another measure we passed this week is the Claims bill, in which a Joint House-Senate Subcommittee on Claims decides which claims against the state should be funded.
City Declares May 16th Paige Bueckers Day in Hopkins
Today, the City of Hopkins proudly declared May 16th as Paige Bueckers Day!
As someone who’s followed Paige’s career since watching her play in 8th grade, this moment feels especially meaningful. It’s been incredible to witness her journey, and now celebrating her success in the community that raised her creates a perfect full-circle moment.
Keep in Touch
We’re continuing our work through the weekend. Please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime at rep.cheryl.youakim@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9889 with questions or input.
Thank you for the honor of representing our Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and Edina neighbors at the State Capitol.
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend! It was beautiful weather to celebrate those who nurture our future generations. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the early start to summer.
May is always a busy part of the legislative session with conference committees meeting to hash out differences between the House and Senate budget bills. Conference committees that have begun meeting include judiciary and public safety, transportation, higher education, environment, and agriculture. Work continues on a global fiscal budget framework, carefully considering the federal budget outlook and how that will impact our communities in Minnesota.
In between floor sessions, committee work, and meeting with constituents, in my role as the House Education Finance Committee DFL-Co-Chair, I remain cautiously optimistic about getting a compromise budget done that doesn’t strip away unemployment benefits from our paraprofessionals, school bus drivers, school nutrition staff, and clerical employees. These hourly school workers fill vital rolls during the entire length of the school year and are some of the lowest paid. They are also the only hourly workers, who work more than four months a year that did not have access to unemployment benefits until 2023. I spoke about this provision and the rest of the House Education Finance bill on Minnesota Public Radio on Friday afternoon and appeared on TPT’s Almanac Friday evening show.
Energy Assistance Still Available
Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County’s (CAP-HC’s) Energy Assistance Program can help pay your utility bills between October 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025. If you’re an eligible applicant, you may receive a grant paid directly to your utility provider that reduces your expenses. Applications must be received or postmarked by May 31 and will be processed in order of date received. Learn more at: Learn more on the Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County website.
Teacher Appreciation Week
We celebrated the dedicated teachers in classrooms across Minnesota last week during Teacher Appreciation Week. A special shout-out to all the current teachers in our family: my Husband Jacques (who has been teaching for 33+ years), our Son Gannon (fourth generation teacher on both sides of the family), our soon to be Daughter-in-Law Kayli, and my Sister-in-Laws Danielle, Shannon, Theresa, and Leila, Cousin Kim, and Cousin Dani. And to the retired teachers in our family: my Dad Roger, Mother-in-Law Cathy, Aunt Lee, Aunt Sue, Grandmother Evelyn, Grandmother Virginia, Grandfather Charles, and Grandfather Jacoub. Yes, we have a LOT of teachers in our family.
And for some other education news, we received good news from the Minnesota Department of Education – graduation rates have reached a historic high! When we invest in our kids we see results. Minnesota still has a long way to go to return to our nation-leading education outcomes, but this is an encouraging start. I’ll continue to invest in our youth and public education, let’s keep up this good progress!
Keep in Touch
Please always feel free to reach out with questions, input, or to let me know how I can help at rep.cheryl.youakim@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9889.
Thank you for the honor of serving our Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and Edina neighbors at the State Capitol.
It’s hard to believe May is already upon us! I hope you’re enjoying springtime and looking forward to the nicer weather. With our constitutionally required adjournment date of May 19 right around the corner, I’m glad to report our work has been productive, passing several of our major budget proposals off the House Floor in recent days.
As is the situation we’re in as a tied House, no bill is able to pass if it’s significantly opposed by either side of the aisle. The result has been compromise budgets that aren’t perfect – there’s plenty “I’m not crazy about, nor are my GOP colleagues” comments in bill presentations as the GOP and DFL co-chairs present the bills together. We still have had several House budgets left to pass this week, but here is a nonpartisan breakdown of the ones we’ve passed so far:
Yesterday, we passed the State Government Finance budget. I’m grateful for Co-Chair Ginny Klevorn and Co-Chair Jim Nash and their work on the State Government bill that will support our elections, combat fraud, and much more.
Things are moving swiftly in the education arena. Co-Chair Kresha and I presented our budget agreement in the House Education Finance Committee, Tax Committee, and the Ways & Means Committee this week. As a compromise, the initial bill agreement removed unemployment insurance from our school’s hourly workers after the summer of 2028. But like many tentative agreements that take place in negotiations, things can change when you talk with your membership.
Our DFL membership does not want to take unemployment insurance benefits away from our bus drivers, paraprofessionals, custodians, nutrition staff, and clerical workers. Before the addition of UI for our school hourly workers in 2023, this particular group of workers were the only hourly workers working more than three months a year, that had been denied UI benefits that all other seasonal Minnesota workers have. While we are back to the drawing board, I still have hope that we will come to an agreement on a House K-12 budget bill that we can bring into negotiations with the Senate and the Governor’s office.
Keeping Minnesotans Safe on the Road
We also passed legislation that puts more guardrails on driving for repeat DWI offenders. Thanks to Rep. Larry Kraft’s partnership with the incredible advocates from Methodist Hospital & Park Tavern, repeat drunk drivers will remain on ignition interlock longer and will be required to get treatment. I’m grateful to have been a small part of this work to get this across the finish line for our community and state.
Constituent Visits
I had a school visit from 4th & 5th graders from Highland Elementary in Edina who had great observations about the Capitol, questions about how a bill becomes a law, and an ideas for a law requiring recess in middle school and a four-day school week.
Organization Teach for America stopped by to talk about the work they have been doing to get more teachers in our classrooms.
May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month
May marks Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time to honor the rich contributions, diverse cultures, and important history of AANHPI communities in Minnesota and across our country. I invite you to join me in celebrating the many ways these communities have strengthened and enriched our state through their leadership, innovation, and resilience.
Keep in Touch
Please continue to contact me anytime at rep.cheryl.youakim@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9889 with questions, input, or to let me know how I can help.
It’s an honor to represent you and our Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and Edina neighbors in the Minnesota House.
In the Minnesota House, we’re developing a new two-year state budget and beginning to pass larger policy and budget bills off of the House Floor and into conference committee with their respective Senate bills. With an evenly split House between Democrats and Republicans, this process requires collaboration and compromise; each side will have to give something up. Despite these challenges, we recognize our essential duty to Minnesota residents to pass a state budget. My DFL colleagues and I remain focused on investing and empowering working Minnesotans and their families.
On Monday this week, we returned from the legislative spring break and honored Rep. Mary Murphy, the House’s longest-serving woman as well as the state’s second-longest-serving legislator stretching to 46 years. An avid reader and former social studies teacher, Rep. Murphy knew the value of a quality education and statewide public library system. She’s also the author of the legislation that created our state muffin, the blueberry muffin, as a part of an elementary school class project. Rep. Murphy — who died on Dec. 25, 2024, at age 85 — received tributes from several of her former House colleagues and a proclamation from Gov. Tim Walz. It was an honor to pass a bill that would rename the state’s library construction grants program in Rep. Murphy’s honor by a 132-0 vote.
The rest of the week I was engaged in bipartisan negotiations with Republican Chair Ron Kresha to craft the House’s version of an education budget bill. I’m pleased to share that after many long, but productive meetings, our Education Finance bill is done and will be posted by the end of the week. Early next week, the bill will be heard in Education Finance, Taxes, and Ways & Means before it goes to the floor. It is not the bill I would have written if we were in the majority, but it is our duty to get a bill into conference committee with the Senate so that we can continue funding our schools. Stay tuned.
Also this week, we began the process of passing the House’s budget bills. As is the nature of a tied House, these are bipartisan compromises, where neither side gets everything they want. So far, I’m proud to say we’re working together well, having already passed our Agriculture budget, and did the same for our Legacy, Judiciary and Public Safety budgets on Friday.
Committee Work
In addition to serving as the Co-Chair of the House Education Finance Committee, I am on the House Tax Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee. Both of these committees continue to meet. In the Tax Committee, we will continue hearing any bills that have tax implications. The Education Finance bill must go through this committee because certain provisions interact with property taxes school boards can levy. One of the responsibilities of the Ways & Means Committee is to hear finance bills before they reach the House floor. I love sitting on both committees. Ways & Means is particularly interesting because you get to do a bit more of a deep dive on the budget bills from committees that you do not sit on before they reach the House floor.
State of the State
This week, Governor Walz delivered his State of the State Address. While chaos and cuts dominate the headlines out of Washington, here in Minnesota, we’re choosing a different path—one grounded in compassion, progress, and real results. As the Administration in D.C. and their allies continue dismantling the very programs and policies meant to help everyday people, we are standing strong with our Executive branch and allies in our state to ensure Minnesotans are protected.
Every person deserves security, opportunity, and freedom—and that’s why we’re fighting to protect the investments we’ve made in schools, health care, clean energy, public safety, and caring for our kids and seniors. In times like these, Minnesota is fortunate to have steady, values-driven leadership.
It was wonderful to have my good friend Shawn McGerr join me at the State of the State address on Wednesday evening. It is always fun to share this ceremonial piece of our democracy, as well as our beautiful Capitol.
Constituents Visit
Thank you to constituent Ashley from St. Louis Park and her friend Julie who came to discuss supporting the first amendment as well as a bill to repeal a statute that requires a business to set aside their first amendment rights in order to be considered for a state contract.
Keep in Touch
Please continue to contact me with your stories, thoughts, input, and questions anytime at rep.cheryl.youakim@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9889. It’s an honor to serve our Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and Edina neighbors in St. Paul.
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