With the recent announcement of a state $1.8 billion budget surplus, rural Minnesota cities are pushing for an increase in Local Government Aid in 2016.
In a conference call last week with statewide media, leaders for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) emphasized that an increase in Local Government Aid (LGA) is their top legislative priority and expressed mounting frustration with the Minnesota House Republicans' refusal to back down from a plan that would severely jeopardize the future of the program.
"The House Republicans' current stance on LGA is extremely harmful to rural cities," said CGMC President Robert Broeder. "They need to know that city leaders in Greater Minnesota aren't going to just stand by and watch them take the first steps toward dismantling this vital program."
Wadena Mayor George Deiss said LGA has been the main issue talked about among area mayors. The Wadena City Council passed a resolution supporting an LGA increase.
The House's LGA proposal passed last session, and currently sitting in conference committee since the Legislature was unable to reach an agreement on a tax bill in 2015, cuts $84 million from the LGA program by reducing the amount of aid distributed to the "first class cities" of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, a CGMC member. The House plan would also freeze the LGA appropriation for all other cities. In contrast, the Senate passed a bill that would increase total funding for the LGA program by $45.5 million, the amount advocated for by the CGMC.
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"With such a huge state surplus right now, you'd hope that legislators would be looking for ways to give cities a boost," said Audrey Nelsen, a member of the CGMC Board of Directors.
During the conference call, the CGMC challenged House Property Tax Chair Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) for perpetuating misleading information about the House's LGA plan in the media.
Other issues such as workforce housing, infrastructure funding, broadband expansion and transportation round out the CGMC's list of legislative priorities for this year, but Broeder was quick to note that an LGA increase remains the organization's top priority for this short, 10-week session.
