Dear Neighbor,
At midnight on Monday, the 14-day deadline to sign the tax relief bill expired. Gov. Mark Dayton decided to use what is referred to as a “pocket veto,” which means by failing to take any action (either for or against) on the bill sent to him, it was not enacted into law and essentially is now dead.
I realize the frustration people feel with the process at the Capitol, so, not only am I disappointed to see that such a good compromise in tax policy was not done, but also unhappy to have people believe this is yet another example of something good that could have happened but has not yet come to fruition.
As I stated in my e-letter earlier this week, the tax bill passed the Legislature with widespread, bipartisan support on a 123-10 vote in the House and 55-12 in the Senate. The tax reform would have benefited thousands of Minnesotans, including veterans, college graduates, families, farmers, small businesses and many more.
Although the bill was not passed unanimously I was particularly happy with it because it was the most bipartisan tax bill in 30 years, with 90 percent of the Legislature voting to approve it. The package included true compromise in providing tax relief for middle-class Minnesotans, but now the “pocket veto” puts all those things included in the bill in serious jeopardy of ever being enacted.
House leadership had agreed to two relatively minor changes the governor asked for in the bill and was committed to them if it was felt a special session was needed. There does appear a small “ray of hope” because on Tuesday the governor left the door open to calling the Legislature back to the Capitol in order to rep-pass this tax relief so it can be enacted.
If you believe, as I do, that the compromise bill is good public policy I’d encourage you to join me in urging the governor to call a special session so the Legislature can re-pass the tax bill that was allowed to lapse. I know, as stated above, there are many who are often not happy with the legislative process, but this time, because there was a good faith bipartisan plan in place, it would be very disappointing if we could not get the bill signed to benefit taxpayers. If action takes place yet this month, the tax relief we propose still could take effect with the start of the new fiscal year in July.
Here is a link to the governor’s office if you would like to send him a message.
Sincerely,
Bob