On behalf of the MSSWA Board of Directors and our members, it is my honor and privilege to once again present our MSSWA Legislator of the Year Award. This year we are honoring 2 influential advocates Senator Nick Frentz who serves Senate District 19, which includes portions of Blue Earth, Le Sueur, and Nicollet counties in the south-central part of the state and Representative Cheryl Youakim who serves House District 46B which includes the cities of Hopkins and St. Louis Park. Senator Frentz and Representative Youakim’s leadership in the Minnesota State Legislature has been instrumental in addressing various issues related to education funding that equitably supports all Minnesota students, access to affordable quality healthcare, access to affordable housing as well as being champions for increased school-based mental health services and resources for students such as school social work services.
Serving as Chief Authors of SF728/HF945, your persistence and advocacy to allow Federal Medicaid Reimbursement for School Social Work Services that are provided on an IEP or IFSP was pivotal during the 2021 Legislative Session. Senator Frentz and Rep Youkim’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Minnesota school districts have the funding and resources to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children is commendable. After engaging in conversations from MSSWA, MASE, PACER, and school district leaders in their communities regarding the lack of funding and the barriers facing districts in accessing vital Federal Medicaid dollars to provide critical mental health services for students with identified educational disabilities, they welcomed the opportunity to become Chief Authors of SF 728
and HF 945 a bill which proposed to modify third-party reimbursement for social work services for special education. This bill would have allowed school districts to maximize federal reimbursement, by seeking medical assistance (MA) reimbursement for health-related services that are provided as part of an Individual Education Plan (IEP/IFSP). Services – including speech-language therapy, occupational and physical therapy, mental and behavioral health services, school nurse services, vision and hearing screenings, diabetes and asthma management, and durable medical equipment – are reimbursable through Medicaid for eligible students. While school social work services are included under Minnesota statutes as health related services that can be billed to MA, our current practice in Minnesota does not allow for districts to bill for these services.
Due to their advocacy and support, SF728/HF945 successfully passed the Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee, House Education Policy and Education Finance Committees and the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee. Although it stalled in the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee, Senator Frentz and Representative Youkim’s perseverance helped to move a revised version of the bill to the Education Omnibus Bill which did pass. As a result, MDE and DHS are in the process of developing recommendations which they must report back to the legislature that would allow the services we already provide on an IEP/IFSP to be reimbursed through federal MA $. MSSWA Board Members and Legislative Committee members were honored to have the opportunity to partner with Senator Frentz, Rep Youkaim, MASE and PACER to testify in support of these bills.
Senator Frentz and Representative Youakim recognize that school-employed mental health providers such as licensed school social workers serve in critical leadership roles related to school safety, positive school climate and providing critical school-based mental health services for all students including our most vulnerable students. Furthermore, they understand the vital role and mental health expertise of school social workers in not only providing direct services to students and families in the form of individual or group therapeutic support but how we also serve as a resource to administrators and other educators by providing consultation and training on identifying students with mental health needs and a referral process when additional services are sought.
Senator Frentz and Representative Youakim’s commitment to establishing crucial funding streams for districts to ensure access to necessary mental health services, their efforts to reduce barriers to educational success and for their dedication to
ensuring all students have the resources to be prepared and successful beyond graduation are just a few of the reasons why MSSWA felt it was essential to acknowledge their leadership. In addition, their openness to continue to access school social workers expertise as a resource is very much appreciated by our members. We look forward to continuing to partner with you. Please join me in thanking Senator Frentz and Rep Youakim for being a true champions and supporters of school social work services and values.
Rep. Cheryl Youakim, DFL-Hopkins, is one of 11 Minnesota House members who has won the Legislator of Distinction Award from the League of Minnesota Cities for 2021.
The league’s board of directors annually approves Legislators of Distinction. According to the league, the award recognizes “that to successfully serve commonly shared constituents, state and city officials must work together to meet the unique needs of rural, suburban, and urban residents across the state,” a statement from the league says.
“As a former Hopkins City Council member, I’m grateful for the League’s advocacy in the legislative process,” Youakim said in the statement. “Our state and city partnership is a critical component to the results we deliver for the communities we serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives.”
The League of Minnesota Cities, which is governed by a board consisting of local elected and appointed city officials, serves its more than 800 member cities through advocacy, education and training, policy development, risk management and other services.
Suggestions abound on how to reduce the chasm, and all House members had an opportunity to delve more in depth into the topic at a daylong symposium Friday.
“Our goal is to establish a common base of knowledge and insight across the Minnesota House on the persistent racial gaps in education in Minnesota and on possible solutions,” said Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Mpls), chair of the House Education Finance Division. “… Minnesota likes to think of ourselves as exceptional. On this issue we are — just not in a good way.”
The event featured speakers addressing myriad issues including: what is now being done in Minnesota; approaches taken in other states to address achievement gaps; costs; disciplinary issues; family and community relationships; early childhood; and an overview of a proposed constitutional amendment to give every child in Minnesota an equal right to a quality education.
Davnie said a summary of the day’s discussion is to be created.
“Closing the education opportunity gap and eliminating racial disparities is key to our state’s future success,” House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) said in a statement. “We’re going to continue this conversation with Minnesotans as we work to craft comprehensive solutions to address this issue that is holding back our children.”
A bill proposing the amendment, HF3658, awaits action by the House Education Policy Committee. Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) is the sponsor. Sen. Jeff Howe (R-Rockville) sponsors the companion, SF3977, which awaits action by the Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee.
While some members were learning more about the issues, a group of Republicans held a news conference to urge action.
“For decades, we’ve collected data that reveals the unacceptable and immoral gaps in academic performance between white students and students of color,” said Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton) in a statement. “This is an urgent and serious problem that demands the legislature’s full and immediate attention. House Republicans have introduced several bills that will help tackle this problem and we stand ready and willing to work with DFLers to ensure our education system works for all students. The time for talk is over, we need to take action.”
Across the country and throughout Minnesota there are some very predictable and persistent gaps in opportunity, particularly related to the overall success of students of color.
The House Education Policy Committee this week heard from representatives of three school districts and the Prairie Island Indian Community on what innovative and effective strategies they’re using to tackle the problem, and the results they’re seeing.
“There’s really no magic bullet to attacking the opportunity gap,” said Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), the committee chair. “Our districts across the state are doing a lot of good work in trying to figure out how to best do that and wanted to throw out some ideas so people could see that.”
Astein Osei, superintendent of St. Louis Park Public Schools, highlighted the district’s focus on addressing the opportunity gap through culturally responsive professional development. Several years ago the district’s teachers actively voted to use some of their alternative professional pay system dollars to receive coaching and development in the area of racial equity.
“In order to interrupt the systems of inequity that we’re facing, it starts with us as educators and it requires a lot of adaptive and hard work undoing the things we’ve learned over our time in life in this country,” he said.
Sandy Lewandowski, superintendent of Intermediate School District 287, also spoke about the challenges the district faces in meeting the needs of all its students. Many students who attend intermediate school districts have special needs and have behavioral and mental health issues. The district, comprised of 12 member districts located west of the metro, is no exception.
The district is disproportionately comprised of students of color, who are three times more likely to be labeled as emotionally and behaviorally disordered, and labeled with a learning disability, than their peers.
“The most striking of our data show that if you’re black you’re six times more likely to be directed to the corrections system rather than a mental health treatment program,” Lewandowski said. “We are living in the middle of the pipeline to prison and we see the trajectory of some students in real time starting with the very youngest that we serve.”
The district took active steps to correct this over the past few years. It’s currently conducting a two-year, Therapeutic Teaching Model program — paid for through a Department of Human Services Mental Health Grant — that has an in-class therapist.
Additionally, in 2017, they made the decision to remove school resource officers and implement a School Safety Coaches Model. Its primary goals are to help foster better relationships between students and staff, and to address problem behavior before it escalates to the point of police intervention.
They’re already seeing promising results. One school within the district reportedly resolved 95 percent of incidents on campus without police interventions, resulting in fewer arrests, citations and suspensions. This has led to better relationships between students and staff, and an overall better culture.
Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton) applauded the work done by the district. “I’ve been following you for a very long time and I have the greatest respect for the strides you’ve been making over the years with your student body.”
The next time you pause to admire an historic building that’s undergone a particularly successful renovation, know that a tax credit probably helped make that possible.
Both the federal and state government encourage investment in the renovation and reuse of old buildings with the use of tax credits. But Minnesota’s is scheduled to go away after Fiscal Year 2021.
HF1642, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), would repeal the sunset provision in state statute and make the Historic Structure Rehabilitation Credit permanent. It would also permit taxpayers who have been assigned a credit to reassign it.
On Tuesday, the House Taxes Committee laid the bill over, as amended, for possible inclusion in an omnibus tax bill.
The rehabilitation credit is a refundable credit equal to 20% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures. Those using it must also qualify for the federal credit. Both are spread over five years.
Tuesday’s testimony focused upon the success of the program, which has been used in both commercial development and in housing. While Youakim emphasized that affordable housing isn’t the central focus of the credit, it has been used to that effect.
“More than 5,000 units of affordable housing have been added or retained by using the tax credit,” she said.
Testifying in favor of the bill was Erin Hanafin Berg, policy director for Rethos, formerly known as the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.
“Before the historic tax credit was passed in 2010,” Berg said, “Minnesota typically saw two or three of these kind of projects a year, just using the federal historic tax credit that’s been available since the 1980s. In the past 10 years, 133 historic buildings have been rehabilitated and re-occupied. Tens of thousands of jobs have been created, resulting in $3.3 billion of economic activity. None of this would have happened on this scale without the Minnesota historic tax credit.”
Brigid Tuck, senior economic analyst for University of Minnesota Extension, presented the results of a study concluding that, for those 133 projects, each dollar invested in tax credits has generated $9.17 of economic activity.
Greg Handberg is senior vice president of properties for Artspace, which develops living and work space for artists and arts organizations. He spoke of the difference the historic tax credit has made for Artspace, including making possible its recent purchase of Northeast Minneapolis’ Northrup King campus for redevelopment.
“Construction is expensive right now,” Berg said, “but rehabilitation of old buildings is more cost-effective, in that they use fewer materials and don’t involve the kind of infrastructure projects you need to develop in a new area. … Someone has to put the money up front to launch one of these projects, and the promise of a tax credit is one of the things that attracts investment.”
The bill’s companion, SF1639, is sponsored by Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester), and awaits action by the Senate Taxes Committee.
Perhaps a parent asked you that question after some questionable decision you’d made. But the query took on a more positive tone at Tuesday’s meeting of the House Taxes Committee.
What would happen if everyone was able to have assistance preparing their income tax returns for free? The answer? We don’t know right now.
HF3496, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), would fund a Department of Revenue study on whether the state could provide a free electronic preparation and filing option. The bill would spark a survey of tax preparation software vendors, ideally yielding information that could shape a free filing program.
A Department of Revenue fiscal note says the cost to the General Fund would be $175,000 for fiscal year 2021. Assistant Revenue Commissioner Robert Doty said that total is consistent with similar state studies.
The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a House omnibus tax bill. Its companion, SF3320, sponsored by Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) awaits action by the Senate Taxes Committee.
Rep. Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth), the committee chair, said the committee has been striving to simplify the system for filers, including making taking the standard deduction a more appealing option. Marquart said 92 percent of tax filers now go that route.
In addition to speaking in favor of the bill, Doty put in a plug for free filing options currently available to taxpayers, and that they could be found by searching for “free file” on the Department of Revenue website.
“Over 60 percent of Minnesota taxpayers may qualify for free filing,” Doty said. “However, over 780,000 qualified Minnesotans didn’t use a (free) preparer and didn’t take advantage of free filing options last year.”
Rep. Lyndon Carlson Sr. (DFL-Crystal) asked if the department knows why such a large number of taxpayers don’t use available free filing programs. Doty believes the study would help determine that.
Doty also encouraged those who haven’t yet filed their taxes to do so electronically and choose direct deposit for possible refunds.
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