Dear Neighbor,
The 2014 legislative session starts Tuesday and I am eager to crack open what Gov. Mark Dayton has dubbed the “Unsession.”
You know, this is supposed to be a session where we focus on striking ineffective, wasteful, antiquated or otherwise unnecessary laws and regulations from the books.
I wholeheartedly agree with this approach in spirit, but hundreds of bills have been filed prior to the session. It appears very few with signatures from the majority are designed to help free us from overbearing bureaucracy and/or regulations.
Let’s call it the legislative vortex, swooping out from St. Paul and engulfing us all.
Pardon the skepticism, but we already saw what happened under their one-party rule in 2013: Democrats raised taxes and spending by historic levels. They increased the size and scope of Minnesota’s government enormously, with the creation of numerous boards, commissions, offices, advisory groups and studies. Not to mention Democrats’ abysmal failure with the government-run health insurance program: MNsure. Their new mandates on Minnesota utility companies are increasing our utility rates in order to prop up unsustainable “green” energy.
Now, a year later, proposals are in the works that would place more unfunded mandates on our schools, add a 10-cent deposit on beverage containers, raise the minimum wage by irresponsible amounts, borrow $1 billion for projects throughout the state and increase gasoline taxes. That is just for starters. Incidentally, the majority is not offering much in the way of fixing problems with the MNsure structure it created.
This is not a budget year, per se. But we will receive an updated state economic forecast soon and that likely will spur some tweaks. Democrats raised our taxes and fees by around $2.5 billion last year and excess revenue should be used to repeal three of their most ill-advised increases (new warehousing, telecommunications and equipment repair taxes). My concern is majority members will view any additional revenue as an opportunity to unnecessarily spend more of our tax dollars.
I will continue serving three House committees this session: Civil Law, Education Policy and Transportation Policy. This will put me close to headline proposals like the bullying bill and new gas taxes, both of which I oppose and neither of which are in the “Unsession” realm.
As I have said a number of times before, I will be looking at each bill and thinking, “Is this necessary? Does this help Minnesotans? Does it eliminate bureaucracy ... or just create more?”
Look for more from me on these and other issues shake out at the Capitol. It remains an honor serving people of our area and your correspondence helps me continue doing my best to uphold the wishes of local citizens.
Stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Mark