It may be hard to accept that the state Legislature has to make a choice as to whether to spend more money on Minnesota’s K-12 education system or to put the money into health care funding. But the state has a finite amount of money to spend on the budget for the next two years and tough choices have to be made where the state will receive the best return on the money it spends.

The fight over funding education versus the state’s health care program known as MinnesotaCare developed last week when Gov. Pawlenty reversed course and said that he’d support a new “fee” on cigarettes to generate more revenue for the state.

That fee would generate an estimated $380 million extra during the next budget cycle and legislators immediately began fighting over where that money should be spent. The governor proposes that schools would receive $280 million of the new money, leaving the remaining $100 million to be spent on health care.

Senate DFLers, however, disagree. Some state that it’s not right to spend the bulk of the proposed cigarette fee on education when the state faces $400 million annually in costs linked to smoking-related illnesses. Others argue that thousands of Minnesotans will be cut from MinnesotaCare because of a health care omnibus bill that passed in the regular session and that it doesn’t matter how much the state invests in schools if the children aren’t healthy enough to attend.

The DFLers are correct that health care is a basic need. But so is education and the money spent on education likely will reap more long-term benefits for the state versus spending the money on health care. Children who ultimately receive a quality education will be less dependent on state social services, including insurance.

This can’t be an easy decision for any lawmaker, but the reality they face is the state has only so much income and it has to be spent on services that make the best financial sense for the state. In this case, education isn’t more important than state-provided health insurance, but it’s the best long-term investment for the state.

Faribault Daily News