NEWS
Rep. Andy Smith
Minnesota House of Representatives
District 25B – 651-296-9249 – rep.andy.smith@house.mn.gov
5th Floor, Centennial Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marlee Schlegel
651-296-9873 or marlee.schlegel@house.mn.gov
April 29, 2026
House Tax Committee Hears Tax Excessive CEO Pay Bill, Leaves Committee to Avoid Voting on Property Tax Cuts
SAINT PAUL, Minn. - This morning, the Minnesota House Tax Committee heard HF1041, a bill authored by Rep. Andy Smith (DFL — Rochester) that would impose a tax penalty on large corporations whose median worker salary to CEO salary ratio is absurdly disproportionate.
Rep. Smith released the following statement:
“We’ve been talking a lot this session about people taking advantage of our system to get rich on the taxpayer’s dollar. No one is better at that scheme than mega corporations that pay their workers an unlivable wage, leaving them to rely on SNAP and Medicaid, and sticking Americans with the bill. How in the world is that something that any Republican can be OK with?
“We should all be utterly disgusted and embarrassed that we have allowed the wealth created by working class Americans be stolen by a very few rich executives — and then subsidized by Minnesota taxpayers.”
Earlier in the hearing, the committee heard HF4974 authored by Rep. Liz Lee (DFL — Saint Paul) that would increase property tax refunds for Minnesotans, something that both DFLers and Republicans claim is a priority. Republican Reps. Cal Warwas, Patti Anderson, Wayne Johnson, Erica Schwartz, and Jeff Witte left the committee room to avoid taking a recorded vote on the bill. The bill ultimately failed to advance due to Republican’s refusal to support it. Once the absent members returned to their seats, Rep. Smith made a motion to reconsider to give them a chance to cast their missed vote. All Republicans voted against the motion, affirming their refusal to cut property taxes.
Republicans previously faced public backlash for skipping committee hearings this session to go drink.
Video of the hearing is available here.
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