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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
Law changes from 2010 session
By Rep. Paul Anderson
More this week on legislation passed during the session just concluded. Again, if information is needed, just contact me.
Beginning July 1, 2011, repeat DWI and severe first-time offenders will be required to install “ignition interlock” systems on their cars. With this system in place, one’s car will not start until the driver blows into a tube and registers “no alcohol” on their breath. The law includes strict penalties for bypassing the system, driving another car, or helping someone avoid the system. The equipment costs about $70 to install and $100 per month to monitor. The length of time a driver will be required to use the interlock system depends on their driving record. Appeals are available if the system is triggered by a different driver or medication.
Property owners now have until Aug. 16 to decide if they wish to take their land out of the Green Acres program without paying deferred taxes. The deadline had been May 1. Land withdrawn from the program after the new deadline will be subject to a payback of three years of deferred real estate taxes. Also relating to Green Acres, the length of time land must be enrolled in the Rural Preserve program has been shortened from 10 years to eight. In addition, a change is coming in the way county assessors place agricultural values on land enrolled in Green Acres. Instead of basing those values on five counties in southwest Minnesota, appropriate sales data must be used in making these calculations. The Commissioner of Revenue may make reasonable adjustments based on the most recent county or regional data for agricultural production, commodity prices, production expenses, rent and investment return. This provision is effective for assessments in the year 2012.
Because of problems last fall and winter with plugged fuel filters, No. 1 diesel fuel will now be exempt from the B5 biodiesel content requirement during the months of October through March. The exemption runs through March of 2012 and allows time for additional research into the problem, which may be caused by the inability of ultra-low sulfur diesel to blend properly with bio-fuel. Many farmers also reported problems with No. 2 diesel fuel, but this exemption applies only to No. 1.
A troubling piece of legislation was dropped from an environmental spending bill just before it was debated on the House floor. A new fee on water use was proposed for the 11-county metropolitan area, and this fee would have hit those who irrigate especially hard. It was estimated that $350 per irrigation well would have been raised had this legislation become law. Even though this bill raised the fee only in the metro area, I felt it wouldn’t have been long until the tax would be expanded throughout the state.
On a different topic, the jobs and economic numbers released earlier this month were not encouraging. In fact, they were called very disappointing by Minnesota state economist Tom Stinson. If part-time census workers are taken out of the equation, only about 20,000 jobs were added in May, far short of the number needed just to stay even with the growing job force.
On the positive side, the economic forecast released by Global Insight was a bit more optimistic than its February forecast. In addition, workers in Minnesota are seeing a slight uptick in their work-week hours and earnings are up a bit. Also, revenue from sales tax receipts is better than expected. However, income taxes collected for 2009 are less than forecast, while refunds paid out were higher. Minnesota is coming off a 5.5-percent decline in wages on a year-to-year basis from 2008 to ’09, the first time that figure has gone down.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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