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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Paul Anderson (R)

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Updating changes in local aid, healthcare

Monday, July 8, 2013

By Rep. Paul Anderson

 

In addition to cities and counties receiving increased local government aid, townships are also in line to receive state aid for the first time in many years. Ten million dollars has been appropriated for townships, while cities and counties will get an INCREASE in LGA of upwards of $100 million.

 

I received a preliminary run of the amounts townships will receive next year, and the breakdown is a bit surprising. It appears that townships with higher populations will receive less aid, while those with higher percentages of agricultural land will get more. In general, the aid figures are based on three factors, total township land, total ag. land, and population.

 

Two townships in Stearns County will receive more than $14,000 in state aid. They are Spring Hill at $14,231 and Zion at $14,104. Three others, Ashley, Lake Henry, and Raymond are all slated to receive over $12,000. On the low end, LeSauk Township will get only $206 and St. Joseph Township $912.

 

In Pope County, the range is from $10,663 for New Prairie Township down to $1,565 for Minnewaska. In Douglas County, the high is $7,417 for Belle River Township down to $1054 for Alexandria Township and $1,699 for La Grande.

 

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A surprising announcement from Washington last week delays the start of the employee mandate that’s part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This would appear to be good news for employers who could have been faced with administrative problems and potentially higher healthcare costs. Keep in mind, however, that the ACA contains two mandates; one for employers with more than 50 employees (the mandate delayed for one year), and one for individuals. The individual mandate has NOT been delayed.

 

The effect of the employer delay on MNsure, Minnesota’s health insurance exchange, is not clear. MNsure has said it will not affect their operations. However, according to research staff from the House Republican Caucus, the delay will likely result in more people enrolling through the Exchange in the individual market. This could have an impact on insurance premiums and on MNsure’s administrative costs. Since a large number of people could remain uncovered by health insurance because of the employer mandate delay, they may turn to the Exchange’s individual market if they are eligible for a premium subsidy. This would increase the number of subsidies the federal government must provide, while the delay of the mandate penalty will likely decrease the government’s revenue.

 

All in all, it’s a big new government program that very likely will have several bumps in the road as it rolls out. I keep reminding myself that nothing government does is free, and that someone, somewhere, has to pay the bills.

 

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Here’s hoping your Fourth of July holiday was good. We jumped right into summer with lots of hot, steamy weather over the weekend. In some areas, rainfall is becoming an issue again, and a nice, slow rain would be welcomed. The corn crop on our farm, for the most part, made the old “hnee-high by the Fourth of July” guideline, but not by much.

 

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