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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Kathy Brynaert (DFL)

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Legislative Update from Rep. Kathy Brynaert for 4/1/14

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Dear neighbors,

As many of you may already know, I’ve decided to retire after finishing this term in the Minnesota House of Representatives.  It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Mankato community since 2006, and I look forward to continuing my involvement in our community as a private citizen and spending more time with my family.  My husband is also retiring this year, and this will be a great opportunity for us to start our retirement journey together.  I have appreciated the kind words of so many of you and I thank you for your support over the years.

Following, please find some details about tax law changes and in the K-12 Education committees I serve on.  You can also click the photo link below to watch a video message with related information:

Tax Cuts for Middle Class Minnesotans

On March 21st, the Minnesota Legislature passed a $508 million tax relief package, with $230 million in tax cuts that will affect more than one million middle class Minnesotans.  Implementing federal conformity and boosting the State’s working family credit will impact working families all over the state in numerous ways:

o   Tax Cuts for Married Couples: More than 650,000 middle-class married families will see $111 million in tax cuts with the elimination of the “marriage penalty.” An average married taxpayer earning less than $75,000 will see a $115 tax cut (this tax cut begins next year). 

o   Tax Cuts for Working Families: 330,000 moderate-income working families will see $66 million in tax cuts. The average family earning less than $49,000 will see a $146 tax cut (a portion of this tax cut begins next year).

o   Tax Cuts for Day Care: More than 26,000 families who qualify for child care tax credits to pay for childcare will see an average increase in their tax credit of $74 per year (this tax cut begins next year).

o   Tax Cut for New Homeowners: 80,000 new homeowners paying down mortgage interest will see an average tax cut of $60.

o   Tax Cuts for Students: 125,000 taxpayers paying down student loans will see a $50 tax cut on average. In addition, 30,000 college students and families paying college expenses will see a $125 tax cut on average.

o   Tax relief for families that adopt: $400,000 in tax cuts for families that received employer-provided adoption assistance.

o   Tax Cuts for Small Employers: Small businesses will be able to offer their employees tax-free tuition and adoption assistance. The tax bill also simplifies small business taxes by eliminating requirements to maintain separate records for federal taxes.

Tax Cuts for Minnesota Businesses

Minnesota businesses will receive $167 million in tax cuts by repealing the business-to-business (B2B) sales taxes, and small businesses will see greater investment with extension of the Angel Investment Tax Credit and simpler tax preparation with federal conformity.  The three major business-to-business taxes repealed were:

·         Warehouse and Storage Services: Eliminates the warehouse sales tax before it is implemented on April 1, 2014.

·         Commercial Equipment Repair: Eliminates the sales taxes on repair and maintenance of electronic and commercial equipment, including the repair and maintenance on farm equipment.

·         Telecommunications Equipment Tax: Eliminates sales tax on telecommunications equipment.

 

Important Tax Filing Information

Because this tax relief package was passed before April 15th, the Minnesota Department of Revenue is working hard to make these tax cuts available to Minnesotans who have not yet filed their 2013 tax returns.  The Department of Revenue will update all of their internal and online systems by April 3, 2014.  They will also be working closely with online vendors who process returns to make sure that their software is updated to correctly process returns for potentially increased tax refunds.

If you have not yet filed your 2013 taxes, you should wait until after April 3, 2014 to do so.

  • The Department of Revenue will have their online systems updated by then to account for tax refund changes. 
  • You can keep updated with changes at the Department of Revenue’s website by clicking on the orange button at the bottom of their home page:

If you have already filed your 2013 taxes, you don’t need to do anything currently

  • The Department of Revenue will be mailing refunds as usual and then reviewing returns that they received before the changes went into effect. 
  • They will be doing this review after the April 15th tax deadline and then sending out any refund increase by whatever means you elected to receive your refund. 
  • If you are eligible for an increased refund, the

    Department of Revenue will be able to make the necessary changes to your return with the tax documents you provided.  If they are unable to do so, they will individually contact you by postal mail to request necessary documents to amend your return.  

  • The Department of Revenue will also be communicating all tax refund changes and updates to CPA’s and tax preparers around the state. 

K-12 Education Committees Update

English Language Learners- There are over 65,000 English language learners enrolled in Minnesota schools.  A bill to address the specific needs of this group of students is called Learning English for Academic Proficiency and Success (LEAPS).  The LEAPS Act provides a comprehensive approach to serving our ELL students by making reforms for our earliest learners, increasing parental involvement, providing teachers and administrators more training targeted to this population, supporting adult ELLs, and engaging in better data tracking of this population.

Adult Diploma- There is legislation this session to help almost 300,000 Minnesotans who don’t have their high school diploma achieve that goal by working with the Adult Basic Education system to develop programs that employ real-life experience and training.  The programs must provide adult applicants with initial orientation to identify competencies and goals, potential career pathways, instructional needs, and develop individualized learning plans. The program will be aligned to Minnesota academic high school standards and the commissioner will create competencies, skills, and knowledge requirements in language arts, mathematics, career development and employability skills, social studies, and sciences.

Career Pathways- This is a bill I chief-authored. Last year, the Career Pathways and Technical Education Task Force was charged with recommending how to structurally redesign secondary and postsecondary education to improve outcomes and increase alignment between secondary and post secondary and workforce needs.  My bill implements several of the recommendations and tasks the P-20 partnership with collaborating with stakeholders to recommend changes that will create a more effective education system comprehensively focused on students’ individual career and college readiness plans.

Teacher Evaluation- Full implementation of the Teacher Development and Evaluation program will begin in the fall of 2014.  We are still working for targeted resources for this program.  The funding formula increase of 1% ($54 million statewide) can help schools meet the needs for a quality teacher evaluation process.  This funding is currently part of the Education Finance bill.  This funding increase is especially important for districts where there is no teacher evaluation program currently in place.  All districts will benefit as we move to train more staff as peer coaches and evaluators.

If you have questions or concerns about any of these changes, please contact me at 651-296-3248 or rep.kathy.brynaert@house.mn           

Sincerely,

Kathy Brynaert

State Representative