The 2010 legislative session ended May 17, bringing to a close another session marked by challenging budget choices. We began the session ready to address a $1 billion budget shortfall; that amount grew to $3 billion when the Supreme Court ruled the Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotments last year were illegal. With a deficit this large, our final plan required painstaking decisions. Careful consideration was given to every area of state spending. We worked to protect jobs and minimize permanent harm. In the end, every area of state government shared in the budget solution, whether through direct cuts, delayed payments, or flat funding.

As in the past, a final budget was reached in the last hours of session. We anticipated the Supreme Court decision and worked throughout the session in preparation. First and foremost, we balanced the state budget and fixed the cash flow crisis created by the Supreme Court ruling. As a result, Minnesota won’t be bouncing any checks.

In addition to addressing the deficit, we passed important legislation intended to create jobs for Minnesotans. We passed an early bonding bill designed to create as many as 20,000 jobs, and put in place common sense tax reforms, such as the Angel Investor Credit, designed to spur business growth and new opportunities.

The employment report released earlier this month indicates our work is helping. More than 10,000 jobs were created in Minnesota during the month of April, dropping our unemployment rate to 7.2 percent. The national unemployment rate remains at 9.9 percent, making this the largest gap on record between Minnesota and the nation on the percentage of people working.

We succeeded in preventing cuts to nursing homes, child care providers and mental health grants. While we were able to avoid direct cuts to the school funding formula, a funding shift was needed to reach agreement with the governor. Even though schools have indicated they prefer a shift to cuts, it can still create problems for them, especially for those schools that do not have ample reserves. I will continue my efforts next session to not only improve how we fund schools, but to reach responsible budget solutions that do not involve borrowing from schools.

We fought hard to improve funding to hospitals, especially those in Greater Minnesota, by taking advantage of a plan offered under the federal health care reform bill. By moving just over 80,000 people who are currently covered by state-paid General Assistance Medical Care to federally funded Medicaid, Minnesota taxpayers can get $1.4 billion of their hard-earned tax dollars returned to the state.

Medicaid is nothing new, it has been in place since 1967 and thousands of Minnesota children, seniors and disabled are already enrolled. This plan simply changes the funding mechanism; for every $1 we spend, over $7 will come back to our state.

The really good news for health care providers is that Medicaid will provide better reimbursement levels for providing care, which will help prevent premium increases for every one of us with private insurance. It is estimated this plan will save or create over 20,000 jobs.

Beginning in 2014, this program will be paid 100 percent by the federal government, bringing an even bigger savings to our state. During these times of ongoing budget deficits, we need to take advantage of every funding benefit available to us.

Spending reductions played a big part in the final budget fix, and although necessary, the choices were difficult. We prevented additional cuts in aid to counties and cities, but the governor’s original cuts remain. There were also cuts to hospitals, HMOs and specialists, but these will be offset by the significantly improved funding available under the Medicaid option.

Considering the challenges we faced this year, I believe our plan was responsible; it does not raise taxes and it offers some protection for our children, seniors, hospitals and property owners. We face even tougher decisions next year, and I feel up to the challenge. I encourage you to contact me with your priorities and thoughts on how we can best move our state forward. I can be reached can be reached at (651) 296-8216 or by e-mail at rep.robin.brown@house.mn.

As always, it is an honor to serve, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Robin Brown, DFL-Moscow Township, is the state representative for District 27A. This is the final legislator column for the season.