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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Bob Dettmer (R)

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Legislative Update from Rep. Bob Dettmer

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

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We passed a House Resolution congratulating the American Legion Department of Minnesota on being selected to host the American Legion’s 100th National Convention this summer. Here I am with Dan Williams, Minnesota American Legion and member of the Convention Leadership Team.

 

 

Dear Friends,

On Sunday night, the House and Senate adjourned, sending a compromise tax conformity and education funding bill, a bonding bill, a supplemental bill and a pension bill to the governor's desk for consideration.

The tax conformity and education bill were part of an effort to find compromise with the governor on each of our respective top priorities. House Republicans’ federal tax conformity plan protected taxpayers, simplified Minnesota's tax code, and provided the first income tax rate cut in nearly two decades. The bill also made available more than $225 million to help students—nearly $100 million more than what the governor requested, providing new money and additional flexibility for school districts to address budget shortfalls.

In the supplemental budget bill, House and Senate Republicans compromised with the governor—nearly 70 percent of the objections raised by the governor were removed or amended, meeting him more than halfway. The bill contained shared priorities like ensuring safe schools—a top priority of both Republicans and Governor Dayton this year, repairing roads and bridges, tackling the opioid epidemic, protecting aging and vulnerable adults, and preventing a cut to caregivers of disabled Minnesotans.

Unfortunately on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Dayton vetoed both of those bills, negatively impacting Minnesotans in our community and statewide.

Below is a list of just some of the people affected by Governor Dayton’s veto:

  • Victims of elder abuse
  • Victims of opioid addiction, and medical professionals
  • Victims of distracted driving
  • Special education and Head Start students
  • People dealing with MNLARS hassles
  • Deputy registrars whose businesses are floundering after MNLARS
  • People who need mental health support, particularly farmers and students
  • Farmers and agribusinesses that need Section 179 conformity for equipment depreciation
  • People who live in rural areas without high-speed internet
  • Students who need help to afford college
  • People who need job training and businesses that need skilled workers
  • K-12 students who won’t benefit from school safety funding
  • Taxpayers who will have a difficult time filing their taxes next year
  • Voters concerned about election security
  • Minnesotans concerned about privacy, data breaches, and cyber security
  • CPAs and tax professionals who will be dealing with very complex tax filings
  • Low-income working families who rely on federal child care subsidies
  • New teachers who need licenses, and schools who want to hire them
  • Schools that need adjustments to fully fund special education
  • Patients who care about transparent pricing for health care and prescription drugs
  • People with disabilities, and their caretakers, who would be affected by a 7% cut to the Disability Waiver Rate System

I am still hopeful that Governor Dayton will act positively on the infrastructure-heavy bonding bill we sent him which includes $32 million for the construction of new veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston, as well as $10 million for the renovation of existing homes.

Even with these harmful vetoes, I believe we have accomplished a number of positive things for Minnesota over the past two years including the largest tax cut in nearly two decades for hardworking taxpayers, the largest investment in roads and bridges in state history without a gas tax increase, major funding boosts for education, and reforms to lower health care costs for Minnesota families.

It was a privilege to work for you at the Capitol this session, and I will continue to advocate for the people and priorities of our district.

***

As always, thank you for the honor of being your state representative.  Please contact me with any questions or input you may have; I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bob