Dear Neighbor,
Another busy week at the Capitol is nearing its end and I want to thank all the representatives from counties in District 12B – Stearns, Pope and Douglas – for traveling to St. Paul to talk about a wide variety of issues.
The topic of state mandates and the impacts they have on counties is one that we discussed. These state directives without corresponding dollars take a toll on county budgets and end up stretching their resources thin. The input the counties provided was very helpful and I appreciate them taking the time to meet.
One of the biggest headlines from this week in St. Paul came when Gov. Tim Walz announced he is proceeding with efforts to challenge the Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline.
The pipeline is around 60 years old and should be replaced with a new line that would better protect public safety and the environment. After an Environmental Impact Study was complete and thorough review had taken place, the Public Utilities Commission provided unanimous approval for granting the certificate of need that is necessary for the project to proceed. Now, with this move by the governor, the project will be further delayed. Let’s hope this is resolved soon.
Most of the focus remains on committee work in the House. Bills related to health insurance and Social Security are just a couple of topics that have been subjects of hearings this week.
On health insurance, a reinsurance program we led to enactment during the last biennium drew criticism and was labeled a giveaway to insurance companies. That program has proven to be a success, stabilizing or even reducing premiums on the individual markets two years in a row. Now, the new majority has reversed its course on this issue and is actually proposing to extend this program for three more years. This bill has strong bipartisan support.
As for Social Security, we made progress in 2017 and nearly 284,000 senior citizens received tax reductions. Approximately 72,000 of our seniors no longer pay state income tax on their social security. Bills have been introduced to reduce Social Security taxes even further and I hope we are able to take this next step.
One of the things we are anticipating next week is receiving the governor’s budget proposal, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. This will be the first real indication as to how his administration’s priorities look on paper, but adjustments may be made after we receive the next complete economic forecast at the end of this month. I attended a legislative reception at the governor’s mansion earlier this week and discussed agriculture with him. The main point I made is we need to help farmers any way we can.
Sincerely,
Paul