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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jenifer Loon (R)

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Legislative Update from Rep. Jenifer Loon

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. Here at the Capitol, we’re in the final weekend and final hours of the 2018 legislative session, passing compromise legislation on school safety, federal tax conformity, and more. These are top priorities for families, taxpayers and residents in Eden Prairie, and we’re working diligently to get the shared priorities of Minnesotans to the finish line and signed into law. I will share more in my next update.

In the meantime, I thought I would update you about a few other important initiatives and issues that have been happening at the Capitol this week.

Stopping Fraud and Misuse of Public Dollars

A Fox 9 report from last Sunday showed as much as $100 million of state childcare subsidies being fraudulently allocated to childcare facilities, with some of the dollars being funneled overseas, including to countries on the U.S. State Department’s travel ban list. This investigative report was dismaying to say the least, especially as we see that hardworking taxpayers and the families who truly need these programs to help cover child care costs are being defrauded.

In response, House Republicans unveiled legislation that will do the following:

  • Allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) to use “Immediate Temporary Suspensions” to close childcare providers that do not fully cooperate with investigators if they are suspected of fraud.
  • Create criminal and civil penalties for those who transfer fraudulent public program funds to countries on the US State Department travel ban list.
  • Create increased fraud prevention measures in public programs including Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and other welfare programs.
  • Direct the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) to investigate CCAP.

Stopping fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars is critical.

Dedicating Resources to Roads and Bridges

Earlier this week, the House passed a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would constitutionally dedicate existing sales tax revenue from auto parts to statewide road and bridge construction. These transportation-related taxes are already being collected but would be solely dedicated to road and bridge repairs on state, county, township, city and small town projects.

The amount of funding attributable to the sales tax on auto repair parts is a very small fraction of the projected general fund budget at 0.6 percent. This amounts to approximately $250-$260 million annually.

I firmly believe that maintaining and improving our transportation infrastructure is a core responsibility of government, and that it makes sense to have these tax revenues go toward critically-needed statewide road and bridge repairs and improvements.

The constitutional amendment would still need to pass the Senate before voters could have the opportunity to decide on the measure in November.

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If you need assistance on a matter related to state government, or have questions, comments or suggestions about what is happening in the Legislature, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you!

Sincerely,

Jenifer Loon