By Rep. Paul Anderson
It looks to be a busy few days here in St. Paul, with the bill formulating the Health Insurance Exchange up for debate early in the week, followed by voting in a joint session Wednesday evening on candidates for the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota.
Capping off the week will be a series of town hall meetings back home Friday and Saturday. I'll start off by joining a 9 a.m. Friday meeting (March 8) at the Broadway Ballroom in Alexandria. District 12 State Senator Torrey Westrom will join me for another meeting that same afternoon, at 1 p.m., in Sauk Centre at the Java Jitters Cafe hosted by that city's Chamber of Commerce. Then, Saturday (March 9) Sen. Westrom and I will hold meetings in Glenwood (9 a.m.) at the Lakeside Ballroom, in Melrose (10:45 a.m.) at the City Center, in Freeport (1 p.m.) at Charlie's Cafe, and finishing up in Albany (2:15 p.m.) at the Hillcrest Cafe.
These meetings, which are open to all residents, allow for discussion on various topics of interest. They allow us to hear first-hand how potential legislation will affect constituents. Topics expected to be discussed at this week's meetings include Gov. Dayton's tax reform plan, implementation of the federal health care law, the state budget, along with funding for long term care and education.
I would encourage anyone with a concern about these topics or any other to attend one of our town hall meetings this week end.
NEW BUDGET FORECAST
The long-awaited February budget forecast was released last week, and it contained good news for our state's economy. It projected a surplus of $295 million when this current two-year budget cycle ends on June 30. That means an additional payment will be going to our schools as we work to pay back the education shift. The improving economy and work done by the Legislature and Governor have made a difference in slowing the rate of automatic spending increases. The "Big 3" in terms of state revenue, individual and corporate income taxes, along with the sales tax, are all coming in above projections. In the past two years, revenues have increased by roughly $3 billion over earlier estimates. That’s a good sign Minnesota is well on the way to recovery from the recent recession.
BABYSITTER TAX?
It was stated by Revenue Commissioner Frans in a hearing last week before the Tax Committee that enterprising young folks who babysit, mow lawns or do other tasks for pay, may be subject to collecting sales tax if the governor’s tax reform plan is enacted. According to the Commissioner, such work is normally classified as “isolated and occasional.” However, if one performs that service more than three times in a year for a family or individual, it would be subject to sales tax. That means kids who mow lawns or babysit for the same family more than three times a year would have to collect and remit sales tax to the state. He or she would also need to maintain a record of transactions.
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