Hello from the State Capitol,
Today marks both the first and second committee deadline in the Minnesota House. This means if a policy bill has not been approved in a committee before the day ends, it will not move forward the rest of the year. The Easter/Passover break will also begin later today, and lawmakers will return to the Capitol on April 7.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS BLOCK BILL TO LOWER VEHICLE TAB COSTS
In 2023, when Democrats had total control of the legislature and the governor’s office, they changed the vehicle tab fee formula and effectively raised your rates by 20%. Drivers are now feeling the impacts of this decision, as some people are paying up to $1,000 or more for tabs on their new or newer vehicle.
This week, the Minnesota House Transportation Finance Committee debated a bill that would bring Minnesota’s vehicle tab fees back to pre-2023 levels, dropping the rates on both newer and older vehicles. Doing so would have provided nearly $1 billion in tax relief for drivers, and likely hundreds of dollars in savings to you.
The bill stalled on a tie vote, with all Republicans voting to lower your tab costs, and all Democrats voting to keep you paying more.
IMPORTANT ANTI-FRAUD MEASURE FINALLY MOVES FORWARD
I’ve been talking about fraud all session long because, after losing roughly $9 billion to people who have scammed our system, the public demands accountability.
One common sense way to attack the problem is to create an independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG would investigate fraud in our state, have real investigative powers and enforcement authority, and not operate under the control of the Governor’s Office.
The bill passed the Minnesota Senate last year by an overwhelming margin. House Democrats have been dragging their feet on the bill ever since. Some good news: this week they finally agreed to approve the bill in the state government finance committee, and on Thursday we moved it out of the judiciary finance committee. It’s about time.
CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION GRANT BILL MOVES AHEAD
This week, the Minnesota House Education Finance Committee heard my bill that would help high school seniors who seek a career in the trades.
The bill language allows districts with career and technical programs to provide postsecondary scholarships and grants to graduating high school seniors. With bachelor’s enrollment in significant decline and demand for the trades on the rise, Minnesota needs more than ever to invest in career and technical education.
My bill was held over for possible inclusion in a comprehensive education finance bill that could be unveiled later this session.
SOCIAL MEDIA BILL MOVES FORWARD
The Minnesota House Commerce Committee passed my bill that helps ensure children are protected from social media.
The bill would require social media platforms to use age-estimation technology to terminate children’s accounts (if 15 and under). It would also prohibit the use of addictive features in the accounts of minors to obtain parental consent to have an account, and it would prohibit targeted content or advertising for minors in Minnesota. Social media platforms would also need to verify kids’ ages using their current technology to estimate age.
The bill now heads to the House Ways and Means Committee for further debate.
LOCAL VISITS
I enjoyed meeting with constituents this week who are members of the Minnesota Farm Bureau!
Congressman Emmer also stopped by the State Capitol this week!
