Senate taxes committee advances K‑12 omnibus that pauses inflation adjustment to formula

The Minnesota Senate Taxes Committee recommended passage of Senate File 2255 on April 23, voting to send the K‑12 omnibus education finance bill to the Finance Committee by a 5–4 margin.

Sponsor Senator Kunish, presenting the bill, described it as a three‑article education omnibus with provisions touching taxes: a temporary pause of the automatic inflation linkage for the general education formula, increases to several categorical aids, and changes affecting referendum and capital levy rules. "There are 3 articles and a total of 13 sections that make changes under the tax jurisdiction," Kunish said during her opening remarks.

The bill sets the general education formula allowance to rise by 2.7 percent in the 2026 fiscal year and by up to 3 percent in the following biennium, while decoupling the formula’s automatic inflation adjustment for the period covered by the committee’s budget target. Senator Kunish described the change as a short‑term measure to meet…