Dear Neighbor
The big news this week is that a new state economic forecast calls for $1.87B surplus. This shows that too much was taken from the hard-working citizens of Minnesota.
This forecast information will serve as a guideline for the House to assemble a new state budget for the upcoming two-year cycle which starts July 1.
In other news, bills that I have authored continue making their way through the process at the Capitol. One which cleared a committee would allow counties more flexibility in how budget work is conducted. Currently, cities and school districts can choose to have their audits done by private CPA's but counties do not have the same flexibility. I believe they should be able to hire private Certified Public Accountants to inspect their books if they choose instead of being forced to use the State Auditor's office. This not only would save tax dollars but also allow the State Auditor's Office to conduct more audit reviews of those audits conducted by private CPA's.
Another bill I authored which advanced (HF 215) takes the sales tax already being collected on purchases of auto parts and puts it toward roads and bridges. There have been some misconceptions over this bill, as it is not a new tax. It directs taxes we already pay on auto parts, over $200 million, dedicated to supporting roads and bridges. This will be a piece of the puzzle that will be part of our transportation budget as a formal plan comes together over the next month now that we have the new state forecast figures.
Still another issue I am working on looks at ways we can improve the way our state conducts studies. This subject came to the forefront in a committee meeting recently where we were discussing a study pertaining to state salaries. The study was authorized by the Legislature in 2013, was conducted, and now the data is off limits to legislators and the public. Minnesota Management & Budget is the only state agency that has access to the information for proprietary reasons.
Taxpayers paid for this study, yet the public cannot see the results? As someone pointed out, that is like buying a new car and not being able to look at it, much less drive it.
We should never authorize and pay for a study that we cannot examine after it is conducted. It is just a waste of time and money. There may very well be proprietary data involved but we should at least have access to the summary data. We hope common sense prevails here.
While we are talking about common sense, many people are calling into question Gov. Mark Dayton decision to provide state commissioners who already earn well into the six figures with salary increases in the $25,000 to $35,000 range. This is a product of a change in law the former legislative majority and the governor made in 2013, allowing the governor to provide raises to commissioners without legislative approval.
We all agree our commissioners deserve fair compensation, but the way this happened and the overall size of the raises left many people at a loss. We hope to bring legislative over site of those types of raises back under legislative review.
Thank you for keeping me informed of your thoughts and opinions.
Good luck,
Jeff