Dear neighbors,
Last week marked the beginning of the 2014 Legislative Session. I’m looking forward to working with you to build on the progress we made in 2013 for our communities.
We accomplished many great things in 2013 to strengthen our communities and grow our middle class. Education was one of our top priorities last year: we paid back all the money owed to our schools, provided all-day kindergarten, and froze tuition for two years at state colleges and universities. We also protected our middle class by providing property tax relief and closed corporate loopholes. We passed a balanced budget that focused on strengthening our middle class. Thank you to all those in our community who made this happen. I look forward to continuing our work together as we move Minnesota forward.
Minnesota has come a long way in just one year. Employers created over 45,000 jobs in Minnesota last year, dropping our unemployment rate to 4.6% - the lowest it has been in 6 years. Last week, Minnesota Management and Budget announced a projected budget surplus of $1.23 billion for the next biennium and the Department of Revenue announced that property taxes are expected to decline for the first time in a decade. A year ago we were facing a $600 million deficit and we owed our schools $800 million. Now, our schools are paid back in full and we have a strong surplus to lead us into the future. With Minnesota on sound fiscal footing for the first time in years, we need to stay focused by growing our middle class, strengthening our economy, and investing in our communities.
The best way to grow our economy and strengthen our communities is from the middle-out. Thanks to a growing economy and a projected surplus, we are in a position to pass middle tax cuts while maintaining a structurally balanced budget. This session I will be working with my colleagues on tax cuts for middle class Minnesotans to enact federal tax conformity. This will make our state tax code simpler and get rid of unnecessary burdens like the “marriage penalty.”
Another way to help grow our middle class is to raise the minimum wage and improve the economic status of women. Raising the minimum wage helps working Minnesotans provide for themselves and their families. Right now, we have the third lowest minimum wage in the entire country. I am confident we can work together to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 and give 400,000 hardworking Minnesotans more economic security and stability. Improving the economic status of women not only helps our daughters, sisters and mothers – it helps families. To do this, we will work to close the gender pay gap, expand paid sick leave, increase access to high-quality and affordable childcare, and help women-owned small businesses grow and thrive.
I hope we can also work together this session to pass a strategic and bipartisan bonding bill. Putting aside our partisan differences to create good jobs while repairing and improving state assets like roads, bridges, and facilities at our public colleges and universities is not only smart economic policy, it’s simply the right thing to do. These investments are a great opportunity to help improve local communities and provide jobs for middle class families. I am working closely with our community to secure needed funds for local transportation projects and Springbrook Nature Center.
I encourage you to contact me directly with any ideas, concerns, or ways I can help you on state issues. I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-5510 or by email at rep.connie.bernardy@house.mn.
I’m looking forward to working with you to strengthen our community. Together, we can keep Minnesota moving forward.
Connie Bernardy
State Representative, District 41A