Alaa CAUCUS Honorable Mark Dayton May 18, 2015 Governor, State of Minnesota 116 Veterans Service Building St. Paul, MN 55155 Dear Governor Dayton: We agree on the importance of early childhood education and assuring students are ready for schoo|; particularly those who are most likely to fall behind, The bipartisan £-12 Education Budget Bill invests ‘over $60 million into school readiness and early childhood scholarships. These investments equate toa 77% increase over the forecasted spending. In addition to the investments in early childhood education, it also includes $287 million (over forecasted spending) on the per-pupil basic needs funding formula, We are deeply concerned with the list of “catastrophic” consequences, released by Commissioners Frans and Casselius, if this bill were to be vetoed. We've heard from local school districts across the /As members of the Senate Purple Caucus, we encourage you to sign the €-12 Education Budget Bil state about the devastating effect this would have as they plan for the coming years. | Legislators on both sides of the aisle spent countless hours of hard work resulting in an additional $400 milion investment — for a total of $17.1 billion over the biennium. This represents a significant investment in our kids and our schools. We urge you to join us in supporting this bipartisan legistation and sign this bill putting Minnesota students and schools first. Sincerely, Jee “TAS fo LO Ae Dosen LD we Koren Vnuley oa7.