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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Steve Green (R)

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Legislative Update (August 14, 2013)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Dear neighbor,

We received word this week from the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (MMB) that revenue collections to the state were $20.7 million below expectations for the month of July. July marked the first month of the implementation of the budget passed by the DFL legislature and signed into law by Governor Dayton. This is the first time in several months that revenue came into the state below projection. Under the budget passed by Republicans in 2011, tax collection to Minnesota came in above forecast by $463 million in the fiscal year ending on June 30. We’ll see how the budget performs in the coming months, but this certainly was not a good first impression.

As you may have heard, Governor Dayton has been talking about calling a special session to address the storm damage that occurred across the state in June. When Governor Dayton was at Farm Fest, he told farmers he also supports adding the repeal of the tax on farm equipment repair to the agenda for the special session. While I agree with Governor Dayton that we need to provide relief for storm damage victims and to repeal the farm equipment repair tax, I believe we should also repeal the warehousing tax during special session. Governor Dayton has expressed willingness to repeal the warehousing tax, but has said it should wait until the 2014 legislative session since the tax doesn’t go into effect until next April. With small businesses making long term planning decisions now in anticipation of this tax, we can’t afford to wait. Our rural communities need to keep our jobs here. This tax will only send more people away from our community and away from our state to look for work elsewhere.

I’ll continue to keep you updated as I learn more details about the agenda for the special session.

Although we are currently not in session, I can still be reached via email at rep.steve.green@house.mn. To contact me by phone, call (651) 296-9918. Mail can be sent to Rep. Steve Green, 231 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Steve