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State Representative Tim Kelly
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8635
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS COLUMN
CONFERENCE COMMITTEES TAKE CENTER STAGE AT CAPITOL
This week I received the honor of being named to a joint House/Senate conference committee. Both the House and Senate have passed a bill relating to public safety policy, and now a group of ten representatives and senators will attempt to iron out the differences in the two bills and work on a compromise plan that can be approved by both bodies. Once this happens, the legislation will be sent to Governor Pawlenty for his signature.
I look forward to crafting this final bill and expect little disagreement in conference. The House bill, which passed unanimously, does a nice job of strengthening criminal policies in Minnesota, particularly relating to sexual predators and keeping them away from children and/or technology which they can use to lure their next victim.
On the other hand, I expect plenty of disagreement when the taxes and health and human services conference committees meet.
These were the most partisan and controversial of the House finance bills. The nearly $2 billion Democrat tax increase bill, which affects the incomes of nearly everyone, is a job-killer. Minnesota's high-tax reputation puts us at a big disadvantage competing with other states for new business, and this bill would make the disadvantage bigger.
House Democrats put the majority of this increased revenue into expanding health care eligibility and welfare programs in their HHS bill – misplaced priorities to be sure as they have proposed increasing HHS spending by $2.2 billion.
In short, it looks like the Democrats feel that tax increases are needed to expand welfare and other health benefits, but not to improve our schools or law enforcement, or assist our veterans.
Expect quick vetoes if either of these reaches our Republican governor’s desk, as he agrees the priorities being outlined by Democrat legislative leaders are poor.
News Items
- CONFERENCE COMMITTEES SHAPING IMPORTANT BILLS AT LEGISLATURE - (Posted: 2012-04-05 00:00:00)
- TAX RELIEF AND JOB CREATION BILL APPROVED IN MINNESOTA HOUSE - (Posted: 2012-03-22 00:00:00)
- MORE GOOD NEWS FOUND IN LATEST STATE BUDGET FORECAST - (Posted: 2012-03-06 00:00:00)
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