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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Ben Lien (DFL)

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Legislative Update - June 22, 2016

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Greetings from Moorhead,

Gov. Dayton met with Speaker Daudt and Senate Minority Leader Hann yesterday to discuss a possible Special Session. This is the second of such meetings in as many weeks, but yielded little progress.  The Special Session talks are centered on getting a Capital Investment Bill and Tax Bill done – two pieces of business not finished by the Legislature earlier this year.  The two bills had many good provisions for our district and Greater Minnesota: Border City Enterprise and Development Zone funding, property tax relief for farmers, small business tax cuts, student loan tax credits, LGA increases and funding for the 20/21 St railroad crossing grade separation. 

I remain hopeful that we will get this business done during a Special Session, but fear as we get further in time away from the regular legislative session it will become more difficult. There is no hard deadline for a Special Session and the state government will not go into a shutdown if we don’t get these bills done.  However, they are very important bills for the state and I very much would like to see this work resolved.  I’ve contacted and spoken with the governor about the importance of provisions in the Tax and Capital Investment Bills for our district, and I’ll continue to call for a Special Session.  I’ll be sure to keep folks updated on the Special Session updates and encourage people to also contact the governor and legislative leaders about the importance of these bills.  As always, my lines are open too.

Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,

Ben