LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM
REP. JEREMY MUNSON - DISTRICT 23B
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Throughout week two of the legislative session, dozens of bills moved along through committees. Many of them are focused on spending a piece of your surplus tax dollars and growing government.
For the first time in the history of the United States, the national debt has surpassed $30 trillion. The Minnesota state budget has accelerated under both Democrat and Republican majorities. Every unit of government, from counties, to local townships, received direct injections of cash, indebting our children and grandchildren. The result of this recklessness: inflation.
Data this month showed the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the price of everyday goods and services rose by 7.5% in January, the highest rate since 1982 and ahead of economist expectations for a rise of 7.3%. I have studied economics and business since I was young, but I was only seven years old when inflation was last at these levels. Many politicians believe they can spend their way out of inflation, or subsidize away the pain of it. We can only control inflation by stopping the counterfeiters in DC from printing baseless currency.
Me, in 1982, when we last had inflation at today’s levels
Inflation has the same effect on Minnesota families as a tax. It is less money in your pocket and in your savings account.
Food Aid Fraud
Many of you contacted me about the hundreds of millions of dollars in food program money stolen from Minnesota taxpayers. The investigation has just begun, but it is clear the corruption runs deep. This is the second major fraud scheme unearthed in the four years I have been in the legislature and it is clear bureaucrats fail to provide oversight and accountability. While some politicians have returned campaign contributions from those being indicted, we must push for accountability and transparency in this process. No one, on either side of the aisle, should tolerate theft from taxpayers.
Give it Back
I am pleased to hear more talk of legislators ‘Giving the Surplus Back’ to the taxpayers of Minnesota. One proposal which appears to run counter to this is to dump billions of dollars into the unemployment trust fund. This pool of money was drained when Governor Walz unilaterally forced businesses to close. While I do believe the government was at fault for causing much of the unemployment, billions in federal PPP dollars were gifted to businesses to keep employees on the payroll and to offset these losses. The Secret Service estimates there is over $100 billion in PPP fraud, stolen from the government. A large portion of the economy suffered especially small businesses. I know personally that many employers paid their employees to stay home, and many business owners paid their employees before themselves. They sacrificed and did the right thing, yet their tax dollars which were over-collected are now being taken and given to those who laid people off. If left alone, the low balance of the unemployment insurance trust fund will trigger the insurance premiums charged to each employer to increase. The legislature voted to ignore all layoffs, regardless if they were COVID or lock-down related. Many large corporations profited during COVID and there were many large mergers with tens of thousands of associated layoffs.
Every dollar government spends it must take from someone else. If you are self-employed, if you farm, if you are a contract-worker, if you are retired, you don’t qualify for unemployment. The billions of dollars proposed to over-fill this insurance fund will not benefit you. This surplus is your money and it should be returned to you in proportion to which it was paid in. The special interest groups and lobbyists are preparing to feed at the trough of government. The voice of the taxpayers has been muted.
If you have a story or opinion to share about using 2.7 billion of your tax dollar surplus to bail out the unemployment insurance trust fund, please reply to this email or reach out to my office. There are several bills addressing the UI fund and your input will be valuable to the discussion.
State House Offices STILL Closed
The Speaker of the House has locked the doors of my office in St Paul - so it is not open to the public. I will be holding office hours in the district. Please contact my assistant by email to arrange a meeting in person or by phone.
Thank you for being engaged in your government,
Jeremy Munson
State Representative, 23B
Contact:
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact my office or me. We are still attempting to provide regular contact remotely, so if you have other needs, please email my Legislative Assistant, Grayson, at Grayson.mcnew@house.mn.
Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV
Video: Streaming Website. Also, you can watch committees and Floor Sessions on YouTube.