By Sarah Light, staff writer

ST. PAUL &8212; District 27A State Rep. Robin Brown weighed in Monday on Gov. Tim Pawlenty&8217;s new budget proposal for the coming year.

Brown said from what she has seen of the proposal so far, she is optimistic about the overall budget priorities but thinks some of the specifics on how to achieve those priorities fall short of what they should be.

Brown, who was elected in November to the Minnesota House of Representatives, said she received a short briefing on the budget proposal Monday morning and plans to look over it &8212; a document contained within three large binders

&8212; in more detail in the coming weeks. Then she will make a final judgment.

She said she is interested to see the final details especially on three of the largest platforms she discussed during her campaign, which include education, health care and property tax relief.

&8220;Our goals seem to be the same; it&8217;s just how we get there,&8221; Brown said, of how her and Pawlenty&8217;s viewpoints differ.

With education, she said, her major hopes include looking into funding for special education and for voluntary all-day, every-day kindergarten.

She said from what she understands about the proposal, schools will receive a 2 percent increase in each of the next two years.

&8220;This falls short of what I consider to be adequate funding for education,&8221; said Brown, who is a photography teacher at Albert Lea High School.

The fine print regarding the performance budget identifies that this money is actually only enough to give a 2 percent bonus to half of the schools in the state, she said. This means that if all of the schools in the state met the criteria in the first year, than all of the money would be gone for the second year, she said.

This is one example of some of the items she will be looking at more in detail.

&8220;While I consider the governor&8217;s budget to be a good starting point, we have our starting point too,&8221; Brown said in a press release.

Final legislative action on finance bills must be completed in May before the end of the legislative session.

&8220;Everybody told me you have to have patience here and you do,&8221; Brown said. &8220;Patience is a part of the process, and I&8217;m OK with that. I have faith in the system.&8221;

BOX

Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his two-year, $34.4 billion budget on Monday. The full details are at . Some highlights:

Education

– About 40 cents of every state government dollar would go for early childhood and K-12 education programs.

– Pawlenty recommends putting an extra 2 percent onto the basic per-pupil education formula in each year. Schools that get three stars or more on their report cards &8212; based largely on student test results &8212; would qualify for 2 percent more each year, although they couldn&8217;t use the money to hike permanent salaries.

– High schools that adopt stronger college-level course requirements for their students could tap into a $75 million bonus pot.

– Young children from families earning 180 percent or less than the federal poverty guidelines could qualify for up to $4,000 for kindergarten readiness programs.

– College-bound students from families that earn less than $100,000 could earn free university tuition if they take rigorous college prep courses while still in high school.

– In total, higher education is in line for $414 million, or 16.4 percent more. But the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system would have to meet some measurable goals to access $50 million of the money.

Health care

– Nursing homes would get a 1.5 percent funding bump over the next two years. If the state determines they are providing quality care, they could get another 0.5 percent. It all adds up to $92 million.

– A $45 million overhaul of the state&8217;s mental health services would include consistent mental health benefits for all enrollees of public health programs and better coordination with physical health care providers and social services.

– The $31 million Healthy Connections plan includes $17 million to increase eligibility for children in the MinnesotaCare health program for the working poor and $12 million to establish the Minnesota

– State preparations for a pandemic flu outbreak would be bolstered with $19.8 million to stockpile antiviral drugs and medical supplies and help public health authorities get ready for a major health disaster.

– Health providers working to develop electronic medical records in rural and underserved areas could get $18.5 million in grants.

Transportation

– Pawlenty wants lawmakers to authorize $1.7 billion in borrowing for highways over the next decade.

– Bumpy, congested state highways would get a one-time infusion of $95 million from the state&8217;s general fund, plus $67 million over two years from the sales taxes on leased vehicles.

– Another $5 million would be earmarked to develop technology to levy a fuel-neutral mileage charge and reduce the state&8217;s reliance on the gas tax.

– The Minnesota State Patrol would get $19 million to add 40 state troopers focused on making the state&8217;s roads safer.

Energy

– Pawlenty earmarks $40 million for renewable energy programs.

– Of that, $10 million is devoted to programs that take next-generation fuels from the research lab to the marketplace.

– Another $12 million would be used to quadruple the number of E-85 fuel pumps around the state by 2011, going from 300 to 1,800.

– He puts $5 million toward research on plug-in electric vehicles, solar rebates and related energy conservation programs.

Taxes

– The governor wants to dedicate $150 million to property tax relief. Property taxes are projected to increase to 6.3 percent next year on an average value home, and Revenue Commissioner Ward Einess said Pawlenty&8217;s plan would hold that increase to 3.2 percent.

– The biggest share of tax relief money, $47 million, would be used to increase the amount and expand the eligibility for the homestead market value credit.

– Another $10 million would go out in aid to cities and counties to help make up for local aid cuts made in 2003. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, the new aid dollars would have to be targeted to public safety in order to address concerns about crime.

– Cities that receive more than one-third of their revenue from the state, about 60 in all, would be subject to a cap on property tax increases.

– Active duty and retired military would receive a full exemption from state income taxes.

– Additional funding would go to the Department of Revenue to help them collect an estimated $51 million in unpaid taxes.

Miscellaneous

– Five state agencies share $40 million in permanent funding for Clean Water Legacy, a continuing project to protecting the state&8217;s lakes, rivers and streams, restoring waters that are already impaired and complying with the federal Clean Water Act.

– The state&8217;s tourism promotion efforts get $4 million to attract more visitors to Minnesota and to provide incentives for film and TV production companies to come and work in Minnesota.

– Efforts to provide more affordable housing for the state&8217;s low-income residents would get more than $20 million. The programs partner private developers with local governments to target housing complexes in areas where jobs are located. Another $15 million to continue efforts by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to end chronic homelessness in Minnesota.

– Counties would gain $4 million in state assistance in housing short-term criminal offenders, and another $1 million to maintain offender work crews that perform tasks such as litter clean-up.