Quote:
Originally Posted by ehochstein
The Minnesota state government does not currently fund any FIRST teams at any level.
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Additional clarification...the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), which partners with FIRST to present the State Robotics Competition, is a voluntary, independent non-profit association of schools that neither seeks nor receives any state funding.
Minnesota House Bill 1800 (
https://legiscan.com/MN/text/HF1800/2015) (companion of Senate Bill 1864) was introduced in 2015, but failed to pass. It would have provided $200,000 over two years for hands-on engineering programs in "Greater Minnesota" (i.e. areas outside of the Twin Cities and their suburbs). The funds would have been administered by
High Tech Kids, which does a fabulous job supporting FLL and FTC programs within the state.
Given the rivalry between Minnesota and our neighbors to the east, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see the Wisconsin bill spur a renewed effort to provide some state money for MN robotics teams in 2017. With luck (and some lobbying?) any proposed legislation: a) would involve more money, b) would apply to all MN robotic competitions (including FRC), and, c) wouldn't exclude teams based on geography.