Dear Neighbor,
This has probably been the busiest week for me of the year, as the bills that form various sections of the House's budget proposal have been making their way through the Ways and Means committee and to the floor this week. The House has been in session Monday through Friday and will be in session on Saturday this week.
Omnibus bills pertaining to transportation and jobs/energy both passed the House in recent days. House-Senate conference committees to negotiate differences in the bills will soon be appointed.
Today, the state government finance bill and environment/natural resources bill are scheduled to be heard on the floor and put to votes. I am pleased that the State Government Finance bill contains some additional funding I was able to obtain for the city of Saint Cloud.
TRANSPORTATION
The omnibus transportation bill, named the Road and Bridge Act of 2015 (H.F. 4) passed the House this week as the major component in a comprehensive proposal investing $7 billion over the next decade.
The House's transportation plan is different from what the governor proposes in that it does not include tax increases.
Over the next 10 years, the Republican proposal prioritizes repairing or replacing 15,500 lane miles for roads and 330 bridges statewide. This is accomplished providing:
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$4.03 billion for state roads
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$1.44 billion for county roads
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$583 million for municipal roads
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$282 million for small cities under 5,000
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$139 million for Greater Minnesota bus services
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$60 million for township roads & bridges
Key components in the plan dedicates existing/ongoing tax revenue from things such as the purchase of auto parts and car rentals to a new Transportation Stability Fund that would be used for improving roads and bridges.
The House proposal also dedicates $125 million in existing tax revenue to increase funding for public transit in Greater Minnesota, includes measures to decrease the amount of General Fund revenue directed toward mass transit expansion and increases funding by two-and-a-half times – to $812 million – for road-and-bridge projects to help traffic flow more freely in corridors of commerce throughout the state.
JOBS/ENERGY
The Jobs/Energy bill which passed the House is geared toward prioritizing private-sector job and business growth, filling vacant positions for skilled workers and saving taxpayers money on cheaper, cleaner energy.
The proposal looks to take advantage of advances in modern technology that allow us to simultaneously protect our environment and gain greater affordability. A prime example is converting our diesel fleet to natural gas, which would benefit the environment and also help our transit lines, school districts and more save money.
Another provision expands access and increases the affordability of propane in Greater Minnesota to help us mitigate shortfalls we have experienced in recent times.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Agriculture bill is the last of the omnibus bills that has not yet passed through the Ways and Means Committee. We have delayed this bill to try to make sure we have the best bill possible in reacting to the avian flu crisis. In Ways and Means today we adjusted the budget resolution to add additional funding to the Agriculture bill to deal with this issue, and I anticipate that we will be passing the bill out of Ways and Means early next week. The avian flu crisis is a fast moving crisis, but I believe the USDA and the MN Dept of Agriculture are doing the best job possible under difficult circumstances.
We also added an additional $50 million to the state's budget reserve in Ways and Means today, bringing to $150 million the total amount we have added this year and a total of almost $1.5 billion in the state's total rainy day fund.
The tax bill we soon will receive on the House floor provides $2 billion in tax relief, much of which would be geared toward helping citizens in Greater Minnesota, including farmers, seniors and veterans. Provisions designed to help spark statewide jobs and innovation also are in the package.
Other details will be provided as more omnibus bills reach the floor. In last week's newsletter I mentioned the tax bill contains measures with local ties and also how the higher education bill would benefit students in the Minnesota State Colleges and University system.
I welcome your thoughts on these and other issues as we face this session's most challenging decisions over the next few weeks.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Knoblach