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2027 Legislative Platform Survey

Please complete the following survey to assist the AMSD Legislative Committee in drafting a platform for the 2027 legislative session. The survey results will serve as the starting point for the development of the platform. Your participation is important and greatly appreciated.

The survey will remain open through Aug. 21.

Background
The 2027 legislative session will convene at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The 2027 session is a “budget year” meaning the primary focus of the session will be adopting the 2028-29 biennial budget. The biennial budget will establish the level of funding for education for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years.

Several issues will make this a challenging session:
  • The February State Budget and Economic Forecast showed the state had a $3.7 billion surplus for the 2026-27 biennium. However, the projected general fund balance for the 2028-29 biennium was just $377 million showing a significant structural imbalance that will have to be addressed when the next budget is developed.
  • The 2025 education bill included $420 million in cuts for the 2028-29 biennium with the bulk of the cuts in special education. The special education cuts included a reduction in special education transportation reimbursement and an additional $250 million to be identified by an 18 member Blue Ribbon Commission on Special Education. The bill included a contingent cut of $250 million to special education cross-subsidy reduction aid if the Commission does not identify sufficient reductions.
  • When state policymakers approved the Universal Meals program in the 2023 session, they changed the compensatory formula to use only direct certification to identify students eligible for compensatory funding. The new formula fails to account for many students from low-income families in need of additional academic support. A Compensatory Revenue Task Force is likely to recommend reinstating the Application for Educational Benefits form as a data element to identify students eligible for additional academic support among other changes.
  • In the 2023 session, the Governor and Legislature made school hourly workers eligible to collect unemployment over the summer months. One-time funding has been used thus far but it is projected to fall short of covering the full cost in FY27 and the cost will fall on school districts after that if funding is not extended.
For further context, you can refer to the 2025 AMSD Legislative Platform, the 2026 AMSD Legislative Platform and the AMSD Position Papers.

On the political front, 2026 is a major election year with all of the state’s constitutional offices and State House and Senate seats on the ballot. The race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Tina Smith and all eight U.S. House Seats are also on the ballot. In addition, several AMSD member districts will have important referendum questions on the ballot this fall along with school board member races in many districts.
1.Please tell us your name, title and school district.
2.Funding Issues

Please list the top three funding issues you would like included on the 2027 AMSD legislative platform in order of importance.
3.Policy Issues

Please list the top three policy issues you would like included on the 2027 AMSD legislative platform in order of importance.
4.Mandatory Statewide Health Insurance Pool

Legislation was proposed last session that would establish a mandatory statewide health insurance pool for all school district employees. The proposal would require employers to cover 95 percent of the highest value single premium and 85 percent of the highest value family premium. It would require all districts, including self-insured districts to be in the pool. Self-insured districts would be required to use their reserves to pay employee premiums until they are exhausted. As drafted, the state would cover the increased cost for school districts above what the district is currently paying. However, preliminary projections indicate that the annual cost of this proposal could exceed $1 billion calling into question the state’s ability to cover this cost.

What is your position on this proposal?
5.Mandates

Please list any specific mandates you would like to see modified or repealed. Provide as much detail as possible.
6.MN Paid Leave
Please list any specific changes, if any, you would like to see made to amend Minnesota’s Paid Leave law.
7.Earned Sick and Safe Time
Please list any specific changes, if any, you would like to see made to amend Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law.
8.Thank you for completing the AMSD Legislative Platform Survey. Please use the space below to share any other comments or suggestions you have related to the AMSD platform development process or advocacy activities.