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Greetings from the Capitol,
The Legislature finished its work early this morning. Legislative leaders came to a budget agreement with the Governor that includes the largest tax relief bill in over 20 years focused on reducing taxes for middle class Minnesotans, as well as making a historic investment in road and bridge infrastructure without raising taxes. The Legislature passed five budget bills during special session: Taxes, Transportation, State Government, Health & Human Services, and K-12 Education, as well as a $995 million bonding bill and a labor standards bill
Budget Highlights:
The tax bill includes more than $650 million in tax relief for 2018-2019 and $750 million for 2020-2021. The bill is focused on relief for seniors on social security, college graduates with student loan debt, families with childcare expenses, families saving for future higher education expenses, and local businesses. The transportation bill invests an additional $300 million in transportation infrastructure over the next two years.
The K-12 education budget bill invests an additional $1.3 billion towards educating our students. The bill eliminates the “Last In, First Out” default layoff policy for schools in order to keep the best teachers in the classroom, reforms the broken teacher licensure system and further invests in pre-k scholarships and school readiness programs.
During regular session, the legislature passed budget bills for Public Safety, Higher Education, Jobs & Energy Affordability, Agriculture, and Environment & Natural Resources. Altogether, the legislature is sending ten budget bills to the governor’s desk for his signature. As bills become law, I will continue to provide updates on provisions within the bills that affect our community and additional provisions that I worked on during this session.
Contact Me:
For any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government, please feel free to contact me at either 651-296-0141 or rep.randy.jessup@house.mn.
Thank you for allowing me to represent you at the Capitol. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
Sincerely,
