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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Mike Sundin (DFL)

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Legislative Update - May 14, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Dear neighbors,

Many rural legislators, including myself, came to St. Paul at the beginning of this legislative session expecting big things for Greater Minnesota residents, but House Republicans have gone back on their word, betraying the promises they made on the campaign and betraying the trust of the rural residents who elected them. Republicans have pushed Greater Minnesota priorities aside— so they can help the owners of skyscrapers and shopping malls in the Twin Cities.

Greater Minnesota residents have shared priorities: good schools, healthcare access, quality infrastructure, and a competitive business climate. The Republican budget not only fails to move those priorities forward, it does significant harm moving us backwards in several cases.  Astounding considering we have a nearly $2 billion projected budget surplus.

While I write, with four days remaining in the legislative session, it is unclear whether negotiations between the House Republican majority, the Senate and the Governor will bear a comprehensive transportation funding plan at all.  Republican leaders have been intransigent in negotiations, and refuse to step away from their plan to only use bonding and general fund money for transportation costs. The Senate and Governor are asking for additional permanent dedicated revenue to pay for roads and bridges.  If they fail to reach agreement on transportation, it will likely also result in a failure to reach agreement on a tax bill.  This is a big disappointment, especially with all the talk we heard from rural Republicans about how important finding transportation solutions was to them.

Republicans don’t have to do what they’re doing, but they insist on a tax bill with over $2 billion in tax cuts – mostly for the owners of skyscrapers in the Twin Cities.  Because they insist on keeping these irresponsible tax cuts that benefit big business, they have been forced to pass bills that underfund education, decrease healthcare access, and put the state budget at risk of returning to the same old cycle of continuous deficits.  Republican intransigence in defense of tax give-aways for big business is indefensible, and it’s holding back progress for rural Minnesota priorities.

House Republicans are increasing school funding by just 0.6%, which doesn’t keep pace with inflation and will cause many school districts in Greater Minnesota to layoff teachers and pack more students into classes that are already too large. They would have us spend $29 in tax giveaways - mostly for corporations - for every $1 they put toward education. Locally, we know that a stronger commitment to education from the state is urgently needed.  I was pleased to see the DFL invest in our students over the last two years, but the proposed Republican plan would leave students in rural schools in the lurch, and that harms all of us.

The college tuition freeze that DFL legislators put in place would also end under the proposed Republican plan for the next two year budget.  Their budget also raids the State Grant program to fill holes in the MnSCU budget. These tuition increases are tax increases - on tens of thousands of students across the state, and they only serve to saddle our future workers with more debt.

But that’s not all! GOP leaders in the House are planning to cut healthcare funding by $1.152 billion, by eliminating MinnesotaCare for 40,000 working Minnesotans in rural areas.  These low income working people including many farm families and independent business owners, and they live largely in rural areas of our state. The 25 counties with the highest concentration of residents who qualify for MinnesotaCare are all in Greater Minnesota.

Add up the Republican tuition increases, the eliminated health insurance, the property tax increases that will result from underfunding local schools, and the fact that Local Government Aid is being cut by $84 million, and you can begin to see how this isn’t a budget that benefits Greater Minnesota families.  It’s a classic Republican budget with shifts, cuts and gimmicks all aimed at giving away $2 billion to big corporations who don’t need the help. 

Undercutting our rural economy even more, the House budget includes a mere $8 million for broadband internet development, a far cry from the $200 million the Governor’s task force recommended to bring rural broadband up to speed. It is unacceptable that with a budget surplus to ignore the need for broadband internet throughout our state that so many businesses are requesting.

Newspaper editors throughout the state have been dismissing the House Republican budget plan as irresponsible for well over a month, and people are noticing.  The Rochester Post Bulletin noted it is a “shameless divide-and-conquer strategy.” The Willmar paper agreed saying the Republican budget was “Very disappointing for everyone in rural Minnesota.”  In Grand Forks, editors noted that “Republicans fell down on the job.”

The healthy budget that Minnesota currently enjoys should be an opportunity to focus on our shared Greater Minnesota priorities: investing in education, increasing access to healthcare, providing new job opportunities and ensuring Minnesotans can safely travel to and from work and school on safe roads and bridges. But House Republicans, as they are so often tempted to do, have betrayed the trust of rural voters to pad the pockets of the rich. We can do better for Greater Minnesota.

Sincerely,

Mike Sundin

State Representative