Dear Neighbors,
Another busy week at the Capitol ended on a positive note Thursday with a bipartisan vote in the House to repeal several harmful business-to-business taxes. I, along with legislators from both sides of the aisle, voted against these taxes last May as part of a $2.2 billion tax increase. I am glad to see the House now moving to repeal them and hope the Senate does the same very soon.
The three business-to-business taxes repealed in this most recent bill, House File 1777, are the sales taxes on warehousing and storage, equipment repair and telecommunication equipment.
In addition to tax repeals, the bill also conforms our state’s tax code to several federal provisions. Taxpayers will be able to make several additional financial deductions when filing their tax returns this spring—and that means real money in your pocket. If the Senate agrees, this will be great news for taxpayers and small business owners in our district and across the state.
There were two extremely important amendments to the bill that were unfortunately not included in HF 1777. These amendments would have allowed working moms and dads to continue to receive a state tax deduction for dependent care as they do on their federal taxes and would have also removed the so-called “marriage penalty” when filing your state income tax form. If these amendments had succeeded, Minnesota families could have had an extra $200 for expenses like groceries or car payments.
The next stop for HF 1777 is the Minnesota Senate. I am hopeful that this bill will pass and soon make its way to Governor Dayton’s desk for signature. This bill is an important step to take so that Minnesota can foster and encourage economic growth.
In other good news this week, Minnesota’s financial outlook is continuing to improve and the state now has a projected $1.2 billion surplus for fiscal year 2014-15 and a projected $2.6 billion surplus for 2016-17. This continues a trend of positive reports in which Minnesota’s state budget has not faced a shortfall projection since February of 2011, when a $5 billion projected shortfall was erased and turned into an over $3 billion surplus for fiscal years 2012-13 .
Thank you for letting me be your voice in St. Paul. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have any concerns or ideas you’d like to share with me regarding state government, I welcome your input.
Have a great week.
Sincerely,
Bob