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State Representative Paul Anderson

255 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317

For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520

Posted: 2011-07-20 00:00:00
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SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE

News From Representative Anderson

The good news out of St. Paul this morning is that the shutdown is finally over. We finished up work on the nine finance bills about 4 AM this morning, after going into special at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon. In addition, legislators also passed and sent to the Governor bills that dealt with pensions, bonding, and Legacy funding.

The final solution, reached after weeks of negotiations between Governor Dayton and legislative leadership, was a compromise. Income taxes were not increased, but spending levels did go up from bills that were passed in May and vetoed. Maybe more importantly, reform ideas that will lower the spending curve increase that is built into nearly every government program, have been scaled back. For example, projected spending increases in the Health and Human Services bill were over 20 percent under current law but have been reduced to eleven percent under the bill passed during special session.

I am pleased that funding for the Pope-Douglas Solid Waste Incinerator was included in the bonding bill. It will help the facility as it gears up to accept refuse from neighboring counties, in addition to the two that operate the facility in Alexandria.

A bill I sponsored was also included in the final tax bill that pertained to cities having to pay sales tax on the water they use to fight fires. From now on, water used for public safety purposes by fire departments will not be subject to that tax. Also in that bill, townships were granted a sales tax exemption on most of their purchases. Local government aid (LGA) and County Program Aid will be held at 2010 levels for the next four years. In addition, Minnesota's estate tax laws were modified to conform to federal law.

Our state parks and rest areas should be re-opening within days, and the rest of the state will slowly get up to speed. I think we all learned just how many areas of our lives are affected by government. I am thankful that we will be back up and running shortly.

In future updates and newspaper columns, I will give more details on the bills passed during the special session. If you have any immediate questions, please contact my office or my home. May you enjoy the rest of summer and let's hope this heat spell doesn't last too much longer.

Thanks for allowing me to represent you in St. Paul. My contact information is below.


Paul Anderson
State Representative
District 13A
Office: (651) 296-4317
Toll Free: (800) 339-6071
Fax: (651) 297-7523

Sincerely,

Paul

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