Dear neighbors,
Last Friday, the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its business for the year and adjourned the 2014 legislative session. Minnesota has come a long way in the past couple of years, and there is a lot to be proud of.
When the legislature began in 2013, Minnesota faced a $600 million deficit, owed our public schools $800 million, and property taxes were on the rise. Just one year later, Minnesota is much stronger.
Middle-Class Tax Cuts
We turned a budget deficit into a $1.2 billion surplus. With this surplus, the legislature put middle-class Minnesotans first by providing $550 million in tax cuts to more than two million Minnesotans. We also added $150 million to our budget reserve, and $283 million supplemental budget package. The budget will be structurally balanced in the long-term, with a $600 million expected surplus into the future.
Property taxes are also going down for the first time in a decade thanks to $178 million in direct property tax relief. We asked the wealthiest two percent of Minnesotans to pay their fair share in income taxes to erase our past deficit and to invest in education, jobs, and property tax relief.
Jobs and Economic Development
Our economy is growing, new businesses are opening and expanding, more jobs are being created, unemployment is at a 6-year low, and we’ve recovered all of the jobs lost during the recession. Minnesota’s economy is growing from the middle-out all across the state.
The Minnesota Investment Fund will provide more competitive loans to bring new businesses to Minnesota, help existing businesses to expand, and to create thousands of new jobs for Minnesotans. We also made new investments to help expand Minnesota exports and connect our state’s small businesses with new trade partners in foreign markets, thus supporting thousands of jobs here in Minnesota. We also cut unemployment insurance taxes by $346.5 million, saving Minnesota employers more money to invest in their businesses and our economy.
Minimum Wage
This year, the Minnesota Legislature raised the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016 and indexed it. Raising the minimum wage will give 357,000 working Minnesotans a pay raise. Doing so will allow families to keep up with the rising costs of living instead of continuing to fall farther and farther behind.
Women’s Economic Security
Women in Minnesota earn, on average, 80 cents to every dollar a man earns. The Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) works to close the gender pay gap because women deserve equal pay for equal work. WESA also strengthens workplace protections and flexibility for pregnant women and mothers, expands parental leave time, enhanced retirement security, and addresses negative economic consequences of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault.
Bonding
We passed a bipartisan statewide bonding bill that invests in Minnesota’s infrastructure, including higher education, transportation, economic development resources, and farm-to-food shelf legislation. The Springbrook Nature Center received $5 million in bonds for much needed improvements and renovations to support our environment and growing community. We’ve been advocating for this project for a decade, so I am very pleased it’s finally receiving the support it deserves!
A Strong Educational System
One of my top priorities was to work with my colleagues to reverse the school shift from the previous biennium and now our schools are paid back in full The Minnesota Legislature made strategic investments and reforms in education to help reduce class sizes and to boost student achievement. We also increased funding for Early Childhood Learning scholarships aimed at closing the achievement gap and expanded access to all-day kindergarten for all Minnesota children. No student will be denied access to a hot, nutritious lunch at school based on their ability to pay. To help alleviate the rising costs of college tuition, the Legislature froze tuition for two years at state colleges and universities and expanded the State Grant Program.
Elections
The Legislature worked together to pass bipartisan legislation to reform our election process. Last year, we made it so people do not have to provide an excuse or reason why they want to vote absentee. This year, in an attempt to keep up with technological advancements, we approved a system to allow Minnesotans to register to vote online. I passed legislation to allow municipalities to use electronic voting rosters – electronic versions of the paper pollbooks used to store voter information and process voters on Election Day.
Health and Human Services
The Legislature prioritized nursing homes and long-term care providers by providing them with a much needed funding increase. We also funded cost-preventative mental health initiatives for adults and children, such as expanding school-based mental health services and mental health crisis response services. More than 200,000 Minnesotans have obtained high-quality, affordable health insurance through MNsure, many of them for the first time in their lives — and at the lowest rates in the nation.
Minnesota and our community are heading in the right direction. I look forward to continuing our work together to build a better Minnesota.
Sincerely,
Representative Carolyn Laine