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State Representative Michael Beard
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8872
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
NEWS COLUMN
BEARD UPDATES THE 2007 SESSION
By Mike Beard
District 35A, State Representative
I recently spoke to the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce to give them an update on the status of the 2007 legislative session. I thought I would pass along this summary of my remarks so that everyone can get an idea of where things stand.
HEALTH CARE
• New leadership in the House and Senate have delayed attempts at major health care changes until 2008. According to the chairman of the House health care committee, “We will not be able to tackle the health care problem this session.”
• Most notably, the “cover all kids” push from the governor and Senate leaders has receded while House leadership maintains its position to provide health care to the 70,000 uninsured Minnesota children
• Governor Pawlenty’s initiative to remake the health care market with individual and consumer based options has floundered as legislative leaders in the House and Senate focus their efforts on the government’s role
EDUCATION
• Early childhood education is not the hot topic it once was as House leaders proposed funding at a fraction of what advocates were hoping for
• The Senate has lessened its emphasis on early childhood and has indicated its preference to use money to bring some relief to schools hit with rising special education costs
• There is universal agreement that basic school funding should increase, proposals range from 2-4 percent per year
ENERGY
• By 2025, 25 percent of our electricity must be produced from renewable sources
• For Xcel and our metropolitan area, the mandate increases to 30 percent by 2020 – only 13 years away!
• Most of the energy will come from windmills in western Minnesota
• We currently lack the capability to move that much new electricity to east central Minnesota
• Building the transmission lines could raise rates significantly in 7-10 years
TAXES
• The recent proposal from House leadership would create a fourth tier to the income tax
• 9 percent rate for married couples making more than $400,000; individuals $226,000
• Nonpartisan House Research estimates that 16,500 “s-corp” businesses would be hit with the 9 percent tax bracket
• It estimates that 60 percent of the $433 million the tax brings in will come from s-corps (most of our small businesses)
• Senate leaders have not been as specific, but have not ruled out a fourth tier or raising the third tier
• Governor Pawlenty will veto this increase and House Republicans will uphold his veto
When we return from the traditional Easter break our focus will shift to passing the full state budget. This, as they say, is when things get interesting. Expect the issue of tax increases to be even bigger as the session wraps up, and remember that we still have a $2 billion surplus.
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