Dear Neighbors,
Last week, I introduced House File 3320, a bipartisan bill to reduce the number of Minnesota legislators by half and eliminate the need to build a lavish $90 million “Crystal Palace” Senate Office Building in St. Paul.
Minnesota's legislature, with 201 members, is the fifth largest in the country, and our state senate is the largest of any state. Ranking twenty-first in total population, there is no need to have this many politicians in St. Paul. With an unnecessary new Senate Office Building being approved, I believe this is the perfect time to enact this legislation. The stars are aligned for this to happen right now.
If passed into law, the bill would go into effect for the 2016 election. Reducing the number of representatives in the House from 134 to 64 and reducing the number of state senators from 67 to 32 will leave eight state representatives and four state senators for each congressional district in Minnesota.
In addition to the immediate savings of not building a new office complex for part-time legislators, I estimate that long term savings would average $10 million dollars per year between reductions in legislator salaries, per diem, staffing costs, the Minnesota Political Contribution Refund Program and more.
Reducing the size of the legislature is an idea that has been floating around the Capitol for several years now. The idea for this particular was brought to me by a Chisago City resident who was concerned about $90 million in taxpayer dollars going toward a new Senate Office Building. I believe the idea has a lot of merit.
You can read more about my bill in Joe Soucheray’s Pioneer Press column here, and watch a Kare 11 news story about it here.
Obamacare Bailout Bill Passes House
On Thursday, the House passed a supplemental budget bill that increases spending by $323 million in the short term and by more than $1 billion in the long term, increasing the likelihood of future budget deficits.
One of the most problematic provisions in this bill is the $406 million bailout of the Healthcare Access Fund (HCAF) in 2016-17. It’s a shift and a gimmick that takes money from taxpayers and school kids to fill a gap caused by Obamacare mandates.
Starting in 2018, this bill moves MinnesotaCare to the budget forecast, requiring the state to shift money to the program between the General Fund and HCAF to perpetually fill future gaps. Not only will this be a huge cost to taxpayers, but it also will leave very little incentive to control spending for public health programs thereafter.
Of course, in a bill that is more than 500 pages long there are some positive provisions. The 5% Campaign to increase wages for home based workers who care of vulnerable adults is in the bill along with increased penalties for sex offenders, pothole repair and a $58 increase onto the K12 funding formula.
With underfunded districts like North Branch and Chisago, equitable education funding is so important. While a per pupil increase to the formula was included in the final version of the bill, a bi-partisan amendment that I strongly supported would have increased K-12 funding by $65 per pupil while also reducing total spending in the supplemental budget by $70 million.
With that amendment failing, the bad provisions in the final supplemental budget bill far outweigh the positives.
Twin cities pet projects including free bus rides to polling places on election day, bailouts for special interest groups and lost opportunities to make government more efficient are all hidden in this 500 page bill.
And what’s more, adding base funding to several agencies and shifting Minnesota Care to the General Fund will cost Minnesota $900 million in fiscal years 2016-17 alone. This unfunded expense jeopardizes future school funding and could lead to tax increases to cover the cost.
Just a couple of years ago, a $6.2 billion deficit was turned around without raising taxes or squandering taxpayer dollars. Now, after raising over $2 billion in taxes and fees in 2013, increasing government spending by more than 11 percent, approving a lavish $90 million Senate Office Building, paying off library bonds for the city of Minneapolis, giving the billionaire owner of a professional football team a stadium and having a $1.2 billion surplus for the biennium—it still isn’t enough spending for the Minneapolis/St. Paul legislators in charge at the Capitol.
Enough is enough for Minnesota. The state needs to prioritize our needs like we did in 2011. As your state representative, I will continue to fight hard to eliminate wasteful state spending.
Survey
I would like to once again offer my survey to anyone who has not had a chance to share their opinions yet. I value your input and appreciate hearing from you. If you would like to take my survey, you can go here.
To those who have already filled out my survey, thank you!
Have a great week.
Sincerely,
Bob