Hello from St. Paul,
I hope you are staying warm during this brutal cold stretch! Here is the latest news from the State Capitol.
This week I visited in my St. Paul office with Meg Gammage Tucker from the National Eagle Center and learned more about this wonderful facility in Wabasha. Thanks for stopping by!
I’m also providing links to my recent House floor speeches for you to watch. I stood up for rural Minnesota and co-ops’ during the debate on the House Democrat energy blackout bill, click here for more. To learn more about what’s behind the surface of these bills, click here, and to learn more about the Democrats sickening abortion bill that Governor Walz just signed into law, click here.
SUPPORTING SOCIAL SECURITY TAX RELIEF
Did you know that Minnesota is only one of a handful of states that taxes senior citizens on their Social Security benefits?
A few years ago, the Legislature began to address this problem. By the end of that session, nearly 284,000 senior citizen tax filers received tax reductions, and 72,000 of those no longer pay state income tax on their Social Security benefits.
With an $18 billion surplus, I believe it’s time to finish the job. This is why I’m co-authoring legislation that would eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for ALL senior citizens.
Our seniors spent their lives paying into this program, and they should receive their money without the state taking a cut. There’s no reason to continue punishing them by taxing their Social Security benefits, especially when the State has a mammoth budget surplus that should be utilized to end this nonsense forever.
DRIVERS LICENSES FOR ALL?
Should Minnesota residents be the only ones allowed to receive a driver’s license? A majority of members in the Minnesota House don’t think so.
On Monday, House Democrats approved legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain the same driver’s license that Minnesota’s residents receive if they choose not to apply for a Real ID or enhanced driver’s license.
This would repeal the rulemaking limitation placed on the Department of Public Safety in 2003 which required proof of legal status for identification and information requirements for obtaining a driver license.
Under this bill, the illegal immigrant driver’s license would look identical to everyone else’s, with no special markings or limitations. Because of this, it opens the door to potential voting and state program abuse, as there are no safeguards with this proposal at all.
For example, in order to participate in same day voting registration in Minnesota, you need to provide a form of identification. One of those options is a driver’s license that will look exactly like the version illegal immigrants will receive.
I voted no on this proposal.
The bill now heads to the Minnesota Senate for further debate.