Dear Neighbor,
The House’s May 19 deadline to adjourn is rapidly approaching, with much work left to do cleaning up after the reckless spending and unnecessary tax increases of the last two years.
Back when they had full control of the Capitol, Democrats spent the state’s $18 billion surplus and raised taxes by $10 billion to increase the state budget by 40 percent. Now, we face a $6 billion shortfall.
To me, this means we need to do the heavy lifting in St. Paul by funding our priorities and cutting state spending in other areas. That may sound like common sense to most of us, but one thing has become clear this session: despite previously raising taxes by $10 billion, Democrats aren’t done yet. Just this week, one Twin Cities liberal said on the House floor, “If we were in charge on this other side, we would have just increased taxes to pay for it.”
I strongly oppose tax increases and will continue doing so because our state has a spending problem, not a shortage of revenue. On top of that fraud, waste and abuse is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars the last few years, with at least $250 million stolen in the Feeding Our Future scandal alone.
Here’s more on that subject and beyond:
State mandate(s) hold up K-12 budget
Our school districts are juggling a lot of challenges these days, including compliance with more than 65 new mandates the Democrat trifecta has piled on them.
One of those mandates forces schools to provide unemployment insurance for hourly workers. The original plan was to cover the costs with temporary state funding for a year or so, then leave districts to figure it out on their own (in other words, property tax hikes and more staff cuts).
Now, schools are struggling to fill summer jobs because year-round staff are simply choosing to skip the work and collect unemployment instead. One superintendent even reported a bigger issue: staff are taking unemployment all summer, only to resign right before the new school year starts, leaving schools scrambling to find replacements for critical roles.
With the state already facing a $6 billion deficit, another bailout just isn’t happening. We need changes to this program, or things are only going to get worse for our schools. But to make those changes, we need this year’s K-12 education finance bill to hit the House floor. Unfortunately, my Democrat colleagues walked away from a bipartisan agreement that had been reached on this year’s education bill, bringing progress to a halt.
Please write or call the House leadership and Education Committee members. Tell them to keep the agreement so the full House can conduct a thorough debate on this bill as a whole and decide whether to support it.
Field trip season
It has been great seeing so many school groups visiting the Capitol this spring, especially those from back home in our district! I recently enjoyed meeting with students from:
MACCRAY
Renville County West
Fraud press conference
House Republicans have made rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in our state a top priority this session. A number of House Republican provisions to strengthen oversight, improve transparency, and stop fraud before it starts have been moving through the House. This includes:
- Requiring all state agencies and grant recipients to publicly post their organizational structures.
- Allowing agencies to withhold payments when there are credible allegations of fraud.
- Requiring state employees to promptly report suspected fraud or abuse.
- Strengthening the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA): Enhancing the OLA’s ability to investigate cases of waste, fraud, and abuse.
- Creating a Medicaid Fraud Unit.
- Expanding whistleblower protections.
- A new Saving Accountability through Verified Innovation initiative to reduce waste and reward cost-saving ideas within government.
Until next time, have fun out on the water if you participate in the fishing opener and happy Mother’s Day.
Sincerely,
Scott