Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are entering the final month of the 2018 legislative session and work at the Capitol is starting to pick up steam. This week, much of our time was spent in committee marking up and passing omnibus finance bills.
The omnibus finance bills reflect budget adjustments that were approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last week. These adjustments propose dedicating the largest portion of the budget surplus towards simplifying Minnesota’s tax code to fully benefit from recent federal tax reform and to provide additional tax relief to the middle-class.
Other investments are being made in common sense initiatives like improving school safety and repairing our roads and bridges.
A number of provisions I authored with local implications have been included in omnibus bills across a handful of committees.
- My bill that provides grants to local businesses around Mille Lacs that have been negatively impacted by walleye mismanagement from the DNR has been included in the Jobs omnibus bill. The program would be developed by Mille Lacs County with oversight from the Department of Employment and Economic Development and would help recoup some of the losses businesses may experience due to additional DNR fishing restrictions on the lake this summer.
- The Property Tax Division Report will include language that provides for the abatement of local property taxes and the state general tax for businesses surrounding Lake Mille Lacs in certain municipalities in Aitkin, Crow Wing, and Mille Lacs Counties. To qualify for relief, businesses must document a 5% reduction in gross receipts in any successive two-year period beginning in 2010.
- The Environment and Natural Resources omnibus bill includes permissive language that allows the DNR to invite at least two members of the Mille Lacs Lake Fisheries Advisory Committee to attend meetings of the 1837 Ceded Territory Fisheries Technical Committee.
Finally, on Wednesday during our floor session, I rose to honor the life and legacy of former First Lady Barbara Bush. Mrs. Bush was a fierce advocate for literacy education and one of the most prominent and recognizable First Ladies in recent memory. She will be missed.
Please click here to see my tribute to Mrs. Bush.
That’s all for this week’s update. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns regarding a matter related to state government. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-6746 or via email at rep.sondra.erickson@house.mn.
Have a great weekend Easter,
Sondra