1.1                             A resolution 
  1.2             memorializing the President and Congress to carry 
  1.3             through on their pledge to fund 40 percent of special 
  1.4             education costs.  
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, in 1975 the Congress passed Public Law Number 
  1.7   94-142, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and 
  1.8   provided a national framework for providing free, appropriate 
  1.9   public education to all students regardless of the level or 
  1.10  severity of disability; and 
  1.11     WHEREAS, Congress in its initial passage of the Individuals 
  1.12  with Disabilities Education Act declared its intent to fund 40 
  1.13  percent of special education costs; and 
  1.14     WHEREAS, the federal government's share of funding for 
  1.15  special education costs in Minnesota has never exceeded 15 
  1.16  percent of total special education costs; and 
  1.17     WHEREAS, since the passage of the Individuals with 
  1.18  Disabilities Education Act, the states have been primarily 
  1.19  responsible for providing funding for special education 
  1.20  services; and 
  1.21     WHEREAS, special education services are being provided to 
  1.22  all eligible children in the state of Minnesota; and 
  1.23     WHEREAS, many states, including Minnesota, must provide 
  1.24  substantial state funding to fill the gaps left by Congress's 
  1.25  unfunded promise; and 
  2.1      WHEREAS, the recent increases in federal funds for schools, 
  2.2   including the increases in special education funding, have come 
  2.3   with substantial mandates and limitations on the use of funds; 
  2.4   and 
  2.5      WHEREAS, Congress is now currently debating the most 
  2.6   effective ways to improve education among the states; and 
  2.7      WHEREAS, the federal government is now estimating a surplus 
  2.8   of $5,600,000,000,000 over the next ten years; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.9      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.10  that Congress should speedily adhere to the goal set forth in 
  2.11  the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and appropriate 
  2.12  to the states significant, genuine assistance to meet the needs 
  2.13  of students with disabilities and to relieve schools from the 
  2.14  necessity of cross-subsidizing special education revenue with 
  2.15  general education revenue.  
  2.16     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.17  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.18  memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.19  States, the President and Secretary of the Senate, the Speaker 
  2.20  and Clerk of the House of Representatives, and Minnesota's 
  2.21  Senators and Representatives in Congress.