Washington, D.C. – Today, the Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands conducted a hearing on H.R. 5544, the Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act. Before a bill can be sent to the House Floor for a vote, a hearing must be held to discuss the proposed legislation.

U.S. Representative Chip Cravaack (MN) introduced H.R. 5544, which directs the federal government to execute the bi-partisan Minnesota plan to fund public education through revenues from utilizing Minnesota’s school trust lands.  This federal legislation reinforces the state bill, which was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Mark Dayton. 

Approximately 86,000 acres of state trust lands are currently locked within the borders of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).  These lands, which must generate money for the school trust, have not been managed to raise funding for public schools.  This failure to fund the trust with revenues from school trust lands goes against Minnesota state law.  Importantly, H.R. 5544 attempts to solve this problem by exchanging all state-owned school trust lands inside the BWCAW for federal land outside the BWCAW. 

Read more about the Minnesota Education Investment & Employment Act here.

• Watch Rep. Cravaack’s testimony here.
   
• Watch the testimony of Minnesota state Rep. Denise Dittrich (D) and former Republican state senator Grace Keliher of the Minnesota School Boards Association here.
   
• Watch Rep. Cravaack’s cross examination here.
   
• Watch subcommittee Chairman Bishop’s comments here.
   
• View photos here.

“It is clear in the Minnesota constitution that these lands are constitutionally dedicated, and Minnesota state statute has also reaffirmed that these lands are to be used to maximize revenue for public schools,” said Minnesota state Rep. Denise Dittrich (DFL).

“At today’s subcommittee hearing we witnessed a productive discourse between interested parties.  Ultimately, Congress got us into this mess, and it is Congress which will have to get us out,” said Rep. Cravaack.  He added, “There’s no question: we haven’t been closer to resolving this problem for Minnesota’s students in the past thirty years than we are today.  I look forward to continue working with involved stakeholders, officials at the state and local level, and my colleagues in Washington to bring closure to this long-standing issue.”

Representative Cravaack serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee – where he is Vice Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee – the Homeland Security Committee, and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.  The 8th Congressional District covers 18 counties.

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