Dear Neighbor,
We are awaiting the details of a brief special session being planned to provide disaster relief after storms brought heavy damage to 18 Minnesota counties earlier this summer.
A key meeting will take place late this afternoon when legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton meet to establish a special-session agenda.
It once appeared as if disaster relief would be the only item of business, but then the governor opened the door to repealing a new tax which applies the state sales tax to farm machinery repairs and more. This new tax is damaging to our ag. industry, so I would like to see it pulled off the books.
There is another warehousing tax I believe should be stripped from law during the special session. This tax would impact ag. inputs and more if allowed to take effect this April. The governor has said he is open to considering repealing this tax next session, but we should do it now to help businesses plan for the future.
I will keep you posted as we learn more about the upcoming session. Our top priority must remain providing disaster relief, but it I would like to see us address the aforementioned tax issues in timely fashion while we’re at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Jeff Howe