Hello from the State Capitol,
An unnecessary tax increase on local employers has come to an end thanks to legislation I supported recently. The bill addressed Minnesota’s unemployment insurance trust fund deficit.
For more than two months, our job providers were waiting for the House majority to stop its political games and take action. It’s good news that this bill has not only been approved but signed into law.
Minnesota needed to replenish its unemployment insurance trust fund by more than $1 billion. The problem could have been solved months ago as $9.3 billion in available state surplus funds could have been used for this purpose, as well as federal COVID relief funding that totaled more than $1 billion. By not utilizing either of these pots of money, the default repayment was tax increases on local employers by 15% or more. Because the issue had not been addressed, Minnesota had been spending $50,000 a day just in interest costs.
The compromise plan that has been approved by both the House and Senate fully replenishes the unemployment insurance trust fund using existing funds and ends the tax increase on Minnesota’s job providers.
With the amount of existing revenue the state had on hand, it was senseless to force our local employers to pay more to state government. They’ve struggled enough over the past two years, so I am pleased this unnecessary tax increase that they were facing has finally disappeared.
Have a good weekend,
Bob