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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Tina Liebling

367 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0573

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Posted: 2012-06-18 00:00:00
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E-Update

2012 Legislative Session Wrap-Up

Dear Neighbor:

Now that the 2012 legislative session is over, I want to share my perspective on the results with you.

The second year of the two-year legislative term is considered the “bonding year,” in which the legislature authorizes the sale of bonds to finance capital investments around the state. These investments benefit Minnesota by improving public infrastructure and encouraging economic growth. Capital investments also boost our economy in the short term by creating jobs in the construction industry, helping put Minnesotans back to work.

The governor recommended $775 million in capital investment this year. This investment would have been well-timed, given current low interest rates, the backlog of critical projects, and the high unemployment rate in the construction industry, in addition to being well within the state’s debt capacity. The Republican majorities in the House and Senate would not agree to that number, but I was pleased that we were able to authorize bonding projects totaling $496 million. The final bill will both provide thousands of private sector jobs and fund dozens of crucial investments — in schools, college campuses, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants, flood prevention and mitigation, and other important infrastructure projects, including the RCTC Workforce Center.

Improving Minnesota’s economic health was at the top of everyone’s agenda this year, but legislators disagreed about what we could and should do about it. The Republican majority’s focus was on helping corporations and the wealthy at the expense of all Minnesotans. After the market value homestead credit was eliminated by Republicans last year, many homeowners and businesses saw property taxes skyrocket. This year, House Republicans tried to cut property taxes for businesses and pay for it by raising property taxes on low and middle- income taxpayers. In the end, Republican legislators could not agree with the governor, so no property tax changes were enacted.

Of course, the debate over a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings in the closing days of the session got a lot of media attention and overshadowed most other concerns. The lobbying for the stadium was more intense than for any issue I’ve seen at the Capitol, but there was absolutely no organized opposition to pushing back. The NFL managed to convince the fans that the Wilfs would pick up the team and leave if they didn’t get a new stadium, deliberately setting off a near-panic. That lobbying campaign, combined with pressure from labor unions in search of construction jobs, put legislative leaders in competition with each other to “deliver” the votes, making passage of the bill all but inevitable.

In this time of rising poverty, soaring college costs, and crumbling roads, the state has made a huge 30-year commitment to finance a football stadium so that a billionaire owner can make the profits he “needs” to be competitive in the NFL. I voted against the bill because I did not think the deal was fair to Minnesotan taxpayers. I felt that it was a stark case of misplaced legislative priorities and an abdication of our duty to spend state funds where they’re needed most.

Minnesota is still expecting a deficit of $1.1 billion in the next budget cycle, we owe our school kids over $2 billion, more of our population is elderly or disabled, property taxes are going through the roof, and too many Minnesotans still need living-wage jobs. These are the challenges that will be on our plate when the legislature convenes in January 2013.

To effectively address these problems, we must change the direction of the past two years. Protecting corporate interests at the expense of individuals is not fair, and refusing to compromise is not a virtue. Minnesota is at its best when we work together to promote economic fairness and put the interests of middle-class and low-income Minnesotans first.

I believe that this legislative session — in which Republicans held the majority in both the House and Senate for the first time in many years — will be remembered as a time when Minnesota government went seriously off the rails, with controversial constitutional amendments, skyrocketing property taxes, a 20-day government shutdown, the first deficit budget in our state’s history, and a commitment to finance a football stadium for the next 30 years. We can and must do better.

Thank you for giving me the privilege of serving you in the Minnesota Legislature. Please feel free to contact me whenever I can be of assistance.

Warm Regards,

Tina Liebling
State Representative

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