St. Paul, Minn. – Today, the Minnesota House passed a combined Jobs, Agriculture, and Environment budget bill on a vote of 72-54. The bill contained notable shortcomings in the areas of broadband infrastructure and raided a pair of funds which have traditionally created jobs in Greater Minnesota.
Rep. Jason Metsa (DFL – Virginia) released the following statement:
“This session has seen disappointment after disappointment for working people courtesy of the House GOP majority, and the latest one today is a completely jobless Jobs Bill. Instead of using the budget surplus to make solid investments to give folks, especially those in Greater Minnesota, the opportunity to get ahead, they shift money around from pot to pot in order to look like they are doing something for people. Two of the areas they’re raiding from are the Job Creation Fund and the Minnesota Investment Fund. Those are wildly successful programs and it’s ridiculous to raid these accounts in order to win clips in the press when we should be working together to move Minnesota forward.
“Just what have the Republicans done for hard working Minnesotans this year? After all, it took a tax cut for corporations before we could get the unemployment extension passed. There are many ideas out there to help out ordinary Minnesotans, like my bill to provide Paid Family Leave, and legitimate, meaningful investments in broadband – not the peanuts appropriated under this bill. I’d love to work with the other side of the aisle to move things like this forward, but time after time they have shown tax cuts for corporate special interests to be their only priority. It makes me wonder what other political chips are going to need to be traded before Minnesota families can see any benefit from this session.”