If the proposals in the state House or Senate bills passed Monday become a reality, Albert Lea would see a significantly lower reduction to local government aid in 2010 than it would have under Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal.

In what was the first of a series of three budget bills to cut a $1 billion state deficit, the House and Senate passed separate bills Monday that cut more than $300 million in state spending for colleges, prisons, courts, agriculture, natural resource programs and local government allowances.

They plan to merge their bills and send the combination to Pawlenty before the end of March.

How does Albert Lea fare in the bills?

In June 2009, Albert Lea already took an about $779,000 unallotment to LGA for the 2010 fiscal year.

Under the House bill passed Monday, Albert Lea would face an additional about $359,000 cut to LGA. This is about $500,000 less than Pawlenty’s proposal that called for a supplemental cut of about $854,000.

District 27A Rep. Robin Brown said looking at the effects of the LGA cuts per capita, the House cuts would equal out to $20 per capita, while the governor’s cuts would be $47 per capita.

As of press time, the Tribune was unable to obtain the local LGA proposals in the Senate bill.

Mayor Mike Murtaugh said in preparing the budget for 2010, the city planned for the governor’s original proposed reduction from last year — which was an about $1.07 million cut.

If the House bill prevails, the total reduction for 2010 would be about $1.14 million, or just about $63,000 different from what was budgeted, he said. This includes the about $779,000 reduction already in place, along with the proposed $359,000 cut.

“Given that’s about the worse case we budgeted, it would be manageable, compared to the governor’s proposed $854,000 additional,” Murtaugh added.

He said the board of directors for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, of which he is an at-large member, took the position Friday to support the House bill.

Brown said these first budget bills are just one of many steps in balancing the budget.

She said what she liked about the first budget bill passed by the House Monday was that it considered statewide significance.

“We wanted to come up with a bill that was spread pretty equally across the state, as far as the cuts that were done,” Brown said. “When you look at all the different areas of the state, it makes sense in a very fair way. When you look at the bill overall, it’s a pretty good distribution statewide as far as sharing the pain.”

She noted she talked with local leaders about what kind of cuts could be tolerated before voting on the bill.

With the other two budget bills coming up to counter the remaining deficit, she said she hopes the fairness and balance across the state continue.