St. Paul, Minnesota – This past week, the Minnesota House of Representatives started their legislative session by proposing $500 million in tax cuts for families and businesses across the state. The bill, moved through the House Taxes Committee late last week, would provide $200 million in tax cuts for hundreds of thousands of Minnesota families through federal tax conformity. Rep. Tim Faust (DFL – Hinckley), who is supporting the bill, is happy to see tax dollars flowing back to his district.
“With a budget surplus of $1.23 billion, it makes sense to give this money back to families and businesses,” said Faust.
Some of the larger cuts would provide a total of $147 for middle and low income families and $26.4 million for students and parents paying for college and paying off student loans. It would also repeal $300 million in farm and business taxes.
Earlier in the week, the House passed a bill to increase funding to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The bill would appropriate $20 million from the state’s General Fund for fiscal year 2014 and any unspent funds as of June 30, 2014 would return to the General Fund.
“Providing some tax relief for families and businesses is an important step,” said Rep. Faust. “But offering increased support for those dealing with this brutal winter and high energy costs is equally as important.”
Rep. Faust is hoping this productive start will help build on the progress made during the 2013 Legislative Session.
Last session began with the legislature facing a $600 million deficit and $800 million in debt to Minnesota schools. The legislature passed a balanced budget last year and now all of the money borrowed from schools has been paid back and the state currently has a $1.23 billion budget surplus. Additionally, Minnesota created more than 50,000 jobs in 2013 and has fully regained all the jobs lost during the Great Recession.
This session, aside from tax cuts and heating assistance, Rep. Faust will be pushing for a pay increase for personal care attendants and home based care workers.
“The workers who care for the family members we love really need to be valued much more than they are now,” said Faust. “Last year, we were able to give nursing home workers a pay increase for the first time in years. I’m hoping we’ll be able to do the same for these care workers.”
Increasing the budget reserves is also something Rep. Faust would like to see addressed.
“Every time we have an economic downturn we see drastic cuts for schools and communities in our area,” said Faust. “If we use some of these surplus funds to build up those budget reserves, it will help offer an alternative to simply raising taxes and slashing budgets. I’d like to see us put some of this money away so we can really be prepared for the future.”