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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
Working together to plan the state budget
With six weeks left of the regular session, I am pleased with how much we have gotten done so far. With the bonding bill completed and signed we now are moving on to setting a budget for the next two years. This is the most important piece of legislation that our state government will pass. I thought it would be helpful to explain how this process will work.
This week the majority party offered their target numbers for the budget. These numbers set a cap for what can be spent in each area, such as education, health care, jobs and economic opportunity and the environment, to name a few. As they say, the devil is in the detail, and at this time there are few details.
What we do know is that this budget will directly impact people throughout Minnesota. Almost 23,000 people will be cut from MinnesotaCare. Funding for education does not even keep up with the rate of inflation and $55 million will be cut from the state Jobs and Economic Opportunity sector. This budget will also rely on increased property taxes and higher fees, while claiming to include no new taxes.
The other troubling piece of this budget proposal is the inclusion of gambling as a source of revenue. Rather than dealing honestly with the challenges that face our state, current state leadership has turned to gambling. There are well-documented social ills that accompany gambling, including bankruptcy and crime. At the very least, it is a poor choice of funding for our state budget.
As the minority party in the House, Democrats definitely have some different ideas on what the state budget should look like. We voted together against their budget, but the majority prevailed and it passed on the House floor. Nevertheless, we are still developing our own plan and you will be hearing more about our proposals in the coming weeks. We have listened carefully to our constituents and will have a plan that does a better job of funding education and has fewer cuts to health care. We are taking a balanced approach, working to find an equitable way to fund the programs and services we believe are vital to Minnesotans while at the same time working within our current budget deficit. We have not included gambling as a source of state revenue.
There is still an opportunity for our budget ideas to be heard and become part of the final package. The Democrats are the majority party in the Senate, and we believe that their budget will closely reflect our plan. Together the House and Senate budget proposals will meet in Conference Committee, where the differences will be worked out and a compromise will be reached. Of course, the Governor will also be involved in what is included in the final budget package.
It is my hope that members of both the House and the Senate can move forward in the same bipartisan spirit that brought us a bonding bill, working together for the good of Minnesota. We can't be afraid to sit down and look at both sides of the issues, to give and take as we work out the details of the roadmap that will steer our state for the next two years. We were sent here to do the work of the people and we can only truly succeed by working together.
Please feel free to call or write if you have ideas or concerns you want to share about state or local issues. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 231 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at the above address. If you are interested in receiving my e-newsletter, please email me at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn and your name will be added to our list.
News Items
- POPPE SELECTED AS AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE CHAIR - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Jeanne Poppe Encourages High School Juniors to Apply for Minnesota House of Representatives Page Program - Application Deadline is November 19th - (Posted: 2012-11-12 00:00:00)
- HORMEL INSTITUTE EXPANSION SIGNED INTO LAW - 2012 legislative session adjourns sine die - (Posted: 2012-05-11 00:00:00)
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