Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope your week is going well. We have had a taste of spring, and I am hoping warm weather for good is just around the corner. Happy Easter to you and your family.
Last week was a busy week at the Capitol.
Budget Targets
Last week House Republicans released their budget targets for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. A budget target is defined as a summary statement which communicates what we are proposing to spend in each of the different areas of state government (Health and Human Services, K-12 Education, Higher Education, Criminal Justice, etc.).
Over the past two years, Minnesota government spending grew at a very large rate. It grew much faster than the typical Minnesota family budget. With that in mind, House Republicans have proposed spending $39.949 billion from the General Fund next biennium, and want to return $2 billion to Minnesotans through tax relief and place $100 million in the budget reserves.
Governor Dayton's plan in contrast, includes spending $43 billion in General Fund expenditures (a $3.7 billion increase over last biennium) and does not place additional money in the budget reserves. This increase is in addition to the large increase of last biennium, when state government spending increased by almost twelve percent, outpacing economic growth threefold.
When you consider that spending in the last biennium (Fiscal years 2014 and 2015) during one party control of the budget process included millions in one time purchases that will not replicate themselves in the current budget (the $90 million dollar Senate Office Building, paying off bonds for the Minneapolis public library, $9.75 million for the River Centre bailout, $200,000 for the Northern Lights International Music Festival, etc.), there is even more savings that can happen.
This Republican budget offers a modest increase in state spending, gives substantial tax relief to Minnesota families and ensures our state continues down a path of fiscal responsibility—paying for priorities without growing government faster than your family's budget.
The Road and Bridge Act of 2015
Also this week, Republicans in the House and Senate introduced the Road and Bridge Act of 2015, a comprehensive, $7 billion transportation proposal that will pay for road and bridge improvements for the next decade.
For Minnesotans, roads and bridges are a top legislative priority, and this plan will repair or replace 15,500 miles of road and 330 bridges statewide—all without a tax increase.
Governor Dayton's plan is to increase the gas tax a minimum of 16 cents per gallon (which goes up even higher as the price of gas increases). Instead, the Road and Bridge Act offers fiscally stable, long-term funding for roads by committing already collected transportation taxes like the sales taxes on auto parts and on car rentals, placing them in a dedicated transportation fund. Furthermore, the Road and Bridge Act uses a portion of the surplus, Trunk Highway Bonds, and finds cost savings at MnDOT and the Metropolitan Council to fund road and bridge repair and improvements statewide.
The vast majority of Minnesotans use our roads to get to work and drive their children to school. However, over the past decade state spending on transit has increased 88 percent while investments in our roads and bridges have only increased 35 percent. This disproportionate investment in light rail and public transit is changed with the plan put forth by Republicans, which sets out to refocus transportation dollars on roads and bridges.
The Road and Bridge Act of 2015 meets the priorities of Minnesotans, making a $7 billion investment in our transportation infrastructure without raising taxes.
If you have any comments on the budget or transportation funding, I welcome you to contact my office. It's a privilege to represent the people of Chisago County.
Sincerely,
Bob
P.S. Your opinion is invaluable to me.
If you haven't done so yet, please take my legislative survey by clicking the link below. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me!
Also, feel free to share the survey link with your friends and family in District 32B!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Barrett2015