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State Representative Kurt Zellers
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5502
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PRESS RELEASE
LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: BUDGET TURNAROUND AND REFORM Zellers: "We turned a deficit to a surplus, curbed spending and reformed how government operates."
AINT PAUL -- (May 11, 2012) -- Citing the budget turnaround and sweeping strides in reform, Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers today said the accomplishments from the 2011-2012 legislative session will help create a stronger economy that encourages job growth throughout our state, reduce the reach of state government and curb state spending.
"Republicans brought fiscal stability back to the state budget. In just over a year, our state has gone from red to black. We turned a $6.2 billion deficit to a $1.2 billion surplus by supporting a strong private sector economy, defeating job-killing tax increases and curbing state spending to stop the unchecked growth of government that burdens Minnesota’s job creators and taxpayers," said Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers.
When Republicans gained control of the Minnesota Legislature, they set fiscal responsibility, economic competitiveness and reform as their top priorities. In the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions, Republican-led efforts to balance the budget without raising taxes, eliminate burdensome red tape, and invest in private sector innovation to spur business development and foster job creation were all signed into law.
"Our goal from day one has been to improve the economic outlook of our state, reduce spending and reform how government operates," Zellers said. "We accomplished these goals and laid the groundwork for the necessary, ongoing review and reform of government programs and spending."
Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives were disappointed Governor Mark Dayton vetoed such important issues such as paying back a portion of the K12 shift owed to schools, the outdated and illogical Last In First Out law that puts a low performing teacher’s right to a job ahead of a child’s right to a good teacher, and critical components of the long-term economic competitiveness such as the phase out and elimination of the statewide business property tax.
Highlights of the 2011-2012 legislative biennium include:
Jobs & the Economy
- Froze the amount state can collect from business property taxes for one year.*
- Provided upfront exemption on capital equipment for small businesses.*
- Eliminate accelerated sales tax remittance permanently except for June payment, allowing small businesses to keep more of their money to help with monthly cash flow.*
- Cut red tape by streamlining permitting processes for prospective/expanding businesses.
- Enhanced funding for the successful Angel Investor Credit program to spur job creation and enhanced efforts to push more investment dollars in Greater Minnesota.*
- Increased funding for research and development incentives to encourage entrepreneurship and growth. *
- Created an Internship Grant Program aimed at attracting and keeping talent in Greater Minnesota.*
- Provided a permanent tax credit for employers who hire veterans.*
Put Students First
- Provided $100 increase in per pupil funding for the biennium and additional increase in funding for small schools.
- Reformed how Minnesota will manage permanent school trust lands to maximize economic returns for our schools.
- Prohibited state from stealing from school district reserves for cash flow.
- Required teachers to pass the basic skills test before teaching in a classroom.
- Provided for alternative teacher licensure.
- Required teacher and principal evaluation that includes 35% of evaluation be based on annual student growth.
- Expanded Post Secondary Education Options (PSEO) to 10th, 11th and 12th grade students for career and technical education.
- Provided taxpayers with for more transparency for settlement agreements using public funds.
Improve and Protect Minnesota’s Health Care System
- Phased out and eliminated the 2% provider "sick" tax.
- Enhanced privatization of public subsidized health care.
- Increased transparency of public health care programs including third party audit of HMO plans.
- Allowed competitive bidding among Medicaid managed care plans for State Health Care Programs.
- Combated Medicaid fraud with up-front screening and detection.
- Reformed welfare to protect benefits for those in need : requiring a recipient’s name on EBT card; limiting EBT cash benefit to only be used in the 5-state area; removing recipient benefits for fraudulent activity; and prohibiting purchases of cigarettes and alcohol with EBT card.
Reform Government
- Reduced projected government spending by $2.5 billion.
- Created Sunset Commission to end duplicative, outdated and unnecessary government programs.
- Consolidated IT functions into one state agency.
- Required e-Verify for state contracts over $50,000.
- Verified eligibility for dependents in the state employee health insurance program.
- Provided cash incentives for employees who bring forward successful cost savings measures.
- Required cities and counties with populations over 5,000 to place budget information organized by function and expenditure type on the Web or in the newspaper.*
Invest in Infrastructure
- Passed $993 million in bonding focus on roads, bridges, and existing infrastructure for projects of statewide or regional significance.
*Awaiting action by Governor Dayton
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News Items
- Loss of a friend, Stanley Crooks - (Posted: 2012-08-25 00:00:00)
- MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE APPROVES $167.5 MILLION DISASTER RELIEF BILL Reforms targeted at accountability included in bill - (Posted: 2012-08-24 00:00:00)
- HOUSE SPEAKER KURT ZELLERS AND SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SENJEM ANDSTATEMENT ON TODAY’S SUPREME COURT HEARING ON VOTER ID AMENDMENT - (Posted: 2012-07-17 00:00:00)
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