The 2014 Legislative Session wasn’t even 10 minutes old before its focus was directed toward Minnesota.
The combination of this winter’s extreme cold and a sharp downturn in supply resulted in an extreme shortage of propane. Normally selling at $1.70 a gallon in the heating season, propane in early February was selling at over $6 a gallon.
Governor Mark Dayton addressed the situation by coaxing the federal government to release an additional $15.8 million in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds. He authorized larger “crisis” assistance payments to households reliant on propane and heating oil, up to $1,000 in addition to the basic $500 standard LIHEAP assistance. He expanded eligibility 120,000 households.
But that meant, without legislative action, LIHEAP would have run out of funds before Minnesotans ran out of need for it.
So, before doing anything else, the House passed legislation appropriating $20 million to make sure that LIHEAP had the resources it needs to aid Minnesotans. The Senate agreed, and the Governor signed the bill on Friday.
As a representative from Greater Minnesota, I was proud to see my colleagues take such quick action on our behalf. Propane not only heats our homes but is critical to Minnesota agriculture and industry. This quick action ensures our lives and livelihoods won’t be impacted negatively by this crisis and is a sign that lawmakers understand the unique challenges that outstate Minnesotans face.
It’s going to be a recurring theme this session. House Speaker Paul Thissen has told me that he wants to make economic development in the rural Minnesota one of the legislature’s top priorities.
In 2013, we gave all Minnesotans much needed relief from skyrocketing property taxes. We’re going to continue down this road in 2014 with proposals to further hold down property taxes in Greater Minnesota. We want to provide a supplementary credit to the Agriculture Market Value Homestead Credit. Increasing agricultural land values have resulted in higher property taxes for farmers.
We’re going to try to repeal the sales tax on farm equipment repair. Repealing this tax has bipartisan support and will provide relief to farmers who dealt with challenging weather that affected crops in 2013.
We also have a legislation package aimed at boosting economic development and spurring rural job growth and the business sectors critical to rural economies.
One bill would appropriate additional resources for existing small business revolving loan programs that offer aid and gap financing for small businesses in need of capital. This program has leveraged more than $1 billion and is responsible for the creation or retention of more than 40,000 jobs. This proposal will increase funding by $6 million – $1 million for each of the six Initiative Foundations located in Greater Minnesota.
Another bill would provide innovation vouchers to help small- and mid-sized manufacturers grow by allowing them to purchase expertise and services from universities, research institutions and consulting firms, like Enterprise Minnesota, that can help them improve their products, implement new technologies and achieve growth.
We also address the skills gap. Throughout the state, employers are looking for workers to fill good jobs but can’t many with the necessary skills. This proposal boosts funding for the Job Skills Partnership, a grant program that assists businesses with training skilled workers to fill these demanding jobs.
Finally, we boost funding for our nine Small Business Development Centers. They help start-up companies and existing small businesses develop and expand through professional training, consulting, and assistance identifying financing sources. This proposal provides state funding, of which there has been very little to date, to help leverage federal dollars and increase our investment in Minnesota companies.
After years of struggling, our economy is taking off. We must do our best to see that this recovery touches every Minnesotan in every corner of the state.