The 2013 Legislative Session is underway and I’m excited to be back at the State Capitol working on your behalf. It is an honor to work for you and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to try to move Minnesota forward.
We enter the session with a $1.1 billion deficit, and we owe our schools another $1.1 billion. I think we’ve all had enough of the budget gimmicks and games. The people of Minnesota expect us to work together and balance the budget honestly and responsibly. We have to decide what we value and prioritize as Minnesotans, and then put together a budget that funds those priorities and positions our great state for long-term economic growth and a stronger middle class.
One of our top priorities must be improving our education system — from early childhood to higher education. A world-class education system will grow our state’s economy over the long haul. For too many years we’ve borrowed from schools, cut funding for state colleges, and ignored early childhood education. We need to pay back the money we still owe our schools, focus on education again and ensure that our schools have the adequate funding they need to help our children be successful.
Comprehensive tax reform should also be a priority, especially property taxes. In 2012, property taxes increased by $375 million for Minnesotans homeowners, seniors, businesses and farmers as a result of the elimination of the Homestead Credit. Property taxes have gone up more than $4 billion over the last 10 years and are a tremendous burden on our businesses. We need to enact property tax relief this session.
I’ll also continue working on passing a school local levy equity bill. Our local school districts have a large number of properties that are seasonal-recreational, meaning they’re exempt from local school levies. My bill would reimburse schools up to 50 percent of their levy and in the process, help lower property taxes for homeowners in the districts.
I’ve been proud of my bipartisan work over the last few years and I will continue to be willing to work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who truly wants to find solutions to the challenges we face. Neither party has a monopoly on great ideas and we’re going to need to work together if we want Minnesota to succeed.
In addition to these priorities, I’ll be introducing several bills. First is a change to the federal tax intercept, which is where the IRS uses part of a refund to pay for things like fines, back taxes, child support, or wage garnishments. Right now, if someone owes child support that is the last thing taken out of a refund when it’s intercepted. I want to change the order so child support is first. A single parent shouldn’t be last in line to receive overdue child support. Minnesota already does this with our state tax intercept and I want to do the same with the federal intercept.
A second piece of legislation would require a parent to continue paying child support even after losing their parental rights. This idea was brought to me by a constituent whose ex-husband shook their child and lost his parental rights. Because he lost his parental rights, he was no longer required to pay child support. That’s simply wrong and should be changed.
I’ll also be working on legislation to increase funding for the Explore Minnesota Tourism marketing program. Our investment in Minnesota marketing has fallen to 1990 levels, putting us at 30th in the nation. Tourism generates 17 percent of Minnesota's sales tax revenue and employs over 250,000 people. One in 10 Minnesotans works in the tourism industry.
Tourism touches nearly everyone. It impacts the business owners, the employees, and the businesses that indirectly benefit from expanding tourism. By investing more in marketing our beautiful area, we can generate around more in wages and help create new jobs — which will also boost state and local revenue, helping to alleviate budget issues.
I’ll be working on a number of other bills, including further attempts to slow the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species, improve shoreline standards, dedicate a bridge to a long-time state employee, address mental health disparities, modify the teacher licensure exam, restrict the use of deadly body grip traps, keep people’s email address safe from data privacy requests if they sign up to receive information from their county, and try to reverse the consolidation of State Patrol highway dispatch centers.
As you can see, there’s a lot to be done, but I’m ready to get to work for you. As always, please feel free to contact me with your questions, suggestions and concerns. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-4333 and by email at rep.john.ward@house.mn. It’s an honor to continue to serve you in the legislature.