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Before break, policy committees finished up their work. This last week, the House Republican leadership put forward their supplemental budget targets; you can read more about them below. This last week and next week, the budget committees will be finalizing their proposals and we will begin to see those omnibus bills on the House floor. I can’t believe that there are only five weeks left of session!
Governor Dayton Urges Republicans to Act
Last Monday, Governor Dayton sent a letter to legislative leaders outlining the need for a smooth process to end the session. He asked that items with bipartisan agreement--protecting vulnerable adults, addressing the opioid crisis, making schools safer, and shoring up state pensions--be passed now. He also stressed that he would not accept shifts, gimmicks, cuts, or false financial assumptions that would undo the hard work he has done to return fiscal stability to Minnesota.
Minnesotans expect action to keep schools safe, stop the opioid crisis, keep seniors safe, and make sure retirement is secure for pensioners, but Speaker Daudt and Republicans need to stop playing political games. There is no excuse for holding these important bills back simply so they can be used as a bargaining chips at the end of session. Minnesotans deserve swift action on these issues.
I am especially disappointed in the Republican leadership lack of movement on the pensions bill. This bill has been in the works for two years and has strong bipartisan support. I would like to thank Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R), Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL) and Rep. Mike Nelson (DFL) for all their hard work on this bill. The pension bill has the support of employees and employers within all of the groups from teachers to police and fire fighters. While our Minnesota pension system is doing much better than other states, there are still issues that need to be addressed. Because of political games last year, we missed the opportunity to chart a better course. We cannot afford to do that again this year. Before break, the pension bill passed on the Senate floor with unanimous support. It is time for Speaker Daudt to follow the Senate’s lead and stop holding the bill hostage in the House.
House Budget Shortchanges Minnesotans
With five weeks left in session, House Republicans finally announced their supplemental budget targets last week. Instead of investing in the things Minnesotans value, like expanding quality early childhood education and making college more affordable, they’ve indicated plans to continue prioritizing tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
This is in stark contrast to Governor Dayton’s supplemental budget proposal, which rolls back tax giveaways for corporations and the wealthy to fund tax cuts for Minnesota families, invest in pre-K across the state, and much more.
MPR: Dayton wants to boost business taxes to pay for personal tax cuts
Pioneer Press: How does House GOP want to spend budget surplus? On tax cuts, roads and bridges
I have signed on as a co-author to the Governor’s tax bill that was just introduced on Thursday. This week, it will receive a hearing in the House Tax Committee and I look forward to hearing the conversation. We have yet to see a tax bill from the GOP Chairs of the House or Senate Tax Committees. Once their proposals come forward, we can have a more thorough discussion on how we are going to approach federal tax conformity.
Committee Action
Last week, our Property Tax & Local Government Committee met twice to hear bills regarding local options sales tax, tax increment financing districts and some miscellaneous bills. This week, we are already scheduled to meet three days. I am assuming that we will be seeing Chair Drazkowski’s proposal for the Property Tax Divison Report by the end of the week. DFL members will get a chance to present amendments and we should have a nice long discussion. The final Property Tax Division Report then gets incorporated into the final Tax bill.
While the majority of the work in the Government Operations & Elections Committee was completed before break, we continue to have informational hearings on bills. On Thursday, we heard annual reports from the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans and Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. All of these groups are doing incredible work!
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