Dear Neighbor,
I heard an astonishing fact on the House floor this week: 3,300 bills have been introduced in the House this year alone.
That number is hard to comprehend and it goes a long way toward explaining why state government keeps growing by leaps and bounds. It’s as if some legislators equate bill volume to success. In my opinion, government is one of those places where less is more. I bet you could leave on one mitten and still be able to use your fingers to count the number of essential bills we will hear this session.
So what are we doing wasting time with the other few thousand? One committee even heard a bill that would remove addresses from state driver’s licenses. It is beyond me how anyone could think that is a good idea. Think of all the fiascos that could create.
Here is a look at some other items that have made recent headlines:
OBAMACARE DEADLINE IS MONDAY
Monday is the deadline for Minnesotans to sign up for health insurance through MNsure to avoid being subject to fines. The current penalty for a family of four is at least $285 for failure to sign up. The penalty will increase to $695 per person in 2016.
When Democrats passed and Governor Dayton signed MNsure into law, they said 270,000 Minnesotans would sign up in the commercial market in 2014 and that eventually 1.3 million Minnesotans would enroll. Current enrollment for commercial plans is 36,176, which is 87 percent below projections. This calls into question the program’s sustainability.
SENATE OFFICE BUILDING BOONDOGGLE
This week, Republican legislators held a press conference to highlight a bill that would remove funding for a new and unnecessary $90 million Minnesota Senate office complex. This building design was inserted into a nearly 400-page tax bill at the last minute by Democrats in 2013, and its inclusion – and price tag - has drawn justifiable outrage from the public. Republicans’ bill would repeal the authority to build a new legislative office building. This, by the way, is one of the few bills which deserves serious consideration … and passage this session.
FARMERS GET SHORTED
A provision that deals a blow to Minnesota’s farmers was somewhat overshadowed during recent passage of a bill that eliminates some of last session’s unnecessary Democratic tax increases. While the farm equipment repair tax is going away, Democrats refused to make the law retroactive. This means if you were forced to pay sales taxes to repair a tractor or any other piece of work equipment – even if you saved your receipts – you will not get your money back from the state.
This is extremely disappointing since nearly $500 million remains from our state surplus. This would be more than enough to repay farmers for their unneeded tax contributions and it is disappointing the majority prevented this from happening.
Sincerely,
Mark