Dear Neighbor,
It has been a rather busy week in the House as we juggle meeting today's first big deadline of the session with preparing to unveil a state budget plan and transportation proposal next week.
Today is the day policy bills must clear preliminary hurdles to follow the traditional legislative procedure. A couple of bills I have authored had hearings and made progress in committees this week.
One of them is H.F. 1829, which eliminates the gimmicky budget practice of requiring accelerated sales tax payments to the state. Under current law, some businesses are actually required to estimate their taxable sales for June and pay the sales tax before the end of June, instead of on the twentieth of the next month as is required all other months.
This is done because the state's fiscal year end is June 30, and the money thus collected before the end of June can be counted to help balance the state's budget for the year. The state thus gets its money 22 days early, but can count all the money towards this year's expenditures as compared to the following year.
I don't think we should be requiring businesses to make an estimate of their tax and pay it early, especially since this can theoretically cause some businesses to pay more than the tax they owe if their sales for the last days of the month aren't what they expect. With the budget surplus the state now has, this gimmick should end and the surplus can provide the money to end it.
Another bill I have been working on, H.F. 488, ratifies contracts of MNSCU employees, nurses and various law enforcement personnel (including troopers and game wardens). It continues to advance and now is ready to be heard in its final committee stop, Ways and Means, which I chair.
Next week will bring big movement toward establishing a new state budget for the upcoming two-year cycle. The House is scheduled to unveil its new proposal Tuesday. The Senate also will be issuing its plan in the coming days. Then work will begin in earnest to find compromise between those two respective propositions and Gov. Mark Dayton.
The Governor this week issued an updated plan, taking into account information from the recent February Economic state forecast, which shows a $1.9 billion surplus through 2016-17. His updated plan takes our budget from $38.5 billion this biennium to $43 billion in the next two years. That does not include the 6.5-percent tax increase he proposes on gasoline at the wholesale level.
I find it disappointing the governor's plan spends virtually all of the surplus, increasing spending by an unsustainable 12 percent in the next biennium (not counting his gas tax increase), and also doesn't set aside any money toward the budget reserve or provide virtually any tax relief.
However, one thing I am pleased to see in the governor's proposal is his recommendation of part of the education tax credit bill I have authored. The governor has recommended increasing the income threshold under which parents qualify for tax credits underneath the education tax credit program, which is available for public, private, and home school families. I am hopeful that we can make further progress on this bill by increasing the size of the tax credit, as well as extending it to private school tuition, which the education deduction that is currently in state law already covers.
Stay tuned as things develop at the Capitol. One thing to look for is an announcement regarding the House's comprehensive transportation plan. Transportation is going to be a key component in this year's budget. I have been heavily involved in putting together the transportation proposal that will be announced on Monday, which will provide for significant additional transportation funding for our state, including the Saint Cloud area, without a tax increase.
I was pleased to meet with a number of constituents who visited me at the Capitol this week:
1) A representative from Saint Cloud of the National Federation of the Blind, for whom I am authoring a bill. I worked with the NFB on legislation in the past, and particularly with long time Saint Cloud resident Andy Virden, who has since passed away;
2) Several farmers from the Saint Cloud area to talk about agricultural issues;
3) A representative from the Somali community who runs a nonprofit dedicated to helping Somali women;
4) A representative from Saint Cloud of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, about their legislative priorities;
5) Ken Holman, the new CEO of Centracare;
6) Some employees from the Saint Cloud Correctional Facility to talk about legislation affecting corrections;
7) Representative of Anna Marie's who were here to rally for sexual assault and women's center's from around the state;
8) Representatives from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and Saint Cloud State University;
9) President Eric Kaler of the University of Minnesota;
10) A large number of Johnnies and Bennie's from Saint John's University and the College of Saint Benedict, who were here for Saint John's and Saint Ben's Day. As a graduate of Saint John's I always enjoy this day each year;
11) Several teachers from District 742, who were here to talk about education issues.
Please feel free to stop by my office if you ever find yourself in Saint Paul.
As always, your input on the issues discussed above and other issues are welcome.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Knoblach