Minnesotans are Overtaxed!

Minnesotans are Overtaxed!

Earlier this week, the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Department announced that Minnesota’s projected budget surplus will total $9.2 billion by June of 2023. Just four months ago, our surplus was projected to be $7.7 billion. This $1.5 billion increase in government revenue continues to reaffirm what we have known all along: Minnesotans are overtaxed!

This $9.2 billion projected surplus is a new state record. Never before has Minnesota been on a path to over-collect so much money from taxpayers. However, that is not all. When you add together the projected surplus, the state rainy-day fund, and our cash reserve accounts, you get $12.6 billion.

Our state government does not need one penny of this $12.6 billion sum. As a matter of fact, every function of Minnesota’s government is fully funded through June of 2023. The very existence of this massive surplus demonstrates that Minnesota regularly takes far more money from taxpayers than is necessary. In my view, such overcollection is unfair, shameful, and wrong. This is your money, and it belongs to you.

We need to fix this problem by permanently cutting taxes in our state. In the coming weeks, I will be authoring legislation to give all $12.6 billion back to you through major tax reform. My bill will entirely eliminate the tax on Social Security. Additionally, this legislation will eliminate the death tax and the sick tax. Finally, my bill will include across the board cuts to state income taxes.

If we do this, Minnesota taxpayers could see a tax savings of up to $6,000 per person in the next two years. This is your money, and it belongs to you, not government.

For more information on our state surplus and cutting taxes, please see the below video:

Election Integrity – Provisional Ballots

Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives have put forward a bill, known as HF 607, that would automatically register Minnesotans to vote when they get a driver’s license or renew their driver’s license. The supporters of this bill claimed that this legislation would provide a way to authenticate a voter’s identity. However, this bill does nothing to improve the security of our elections. In fact, HF 607 would only complicate our elections system.

When an individual registers to vote, their information is put in the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). This is the database that the Secretary of State uses to maintain accurate voter information. Unfortunately, the SVRS is riddled with errors. The Minnesota Legislative Auditor has stated that on an average election, 16,000 voter records in our SVRS are not accurate.

HF 607 provides no greater means of verifying a person’s identity. The Democrat bill would just automatically put voters in the SVRS. All the authentication problems that currently plague the SVRS would remain. As a matter of fact, automatically registering people to vote would only complicate these problems and make them worse.

We need to make major changes. In Minnesota, it should be easy to vote and hard to cheat. As such, I have authored HF 213. This bill would create a provisional balloting system in our state that increases the security of our elections.  

Provisional ballots are ballots that are given to voters whose eligibility to vote cannot be determined at the polls on Election Day. In these cases, voters are given a provisional ballot which will only be counted once that voter has been deemed eligible. This would ensure that only legitimate voters are casting ballots in our elections.

Minnesota is one of three states without provisional ballots. On top of that, we allow same day voter registration. This means you can just show up on Election Day, register to vote, and cast a vote. We are the only state that has same day voter registration with no provisional balloting system to determine eligibility. As a result, we have a voting system that does not have proper checks and balances.

Provisional ballots are a necessary tool to prevent fraud and abuse at the ballot box. That is why I am authoring this bill and fighting for real election integrity. Please check out the below video to learn more about provisional balloting:

Steve Drazkowski