Dear Neighbors,
This weekend, please take a moment to remember and honor those who’ve fought and died for our country. Say a prayer for the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. If you’re interested, here’s a good list of Memorial Day events taking place around Anoka County.
End of Session
Our session concluded on Sunday as we passed our remaining bills. Despite a good-faith effort at compromise, the governor decided to veto our tax bill and our budget legislation.
These bills would have cut taxes, increased school safety funding, helped curb the opioid epidemic, and brought aid to our elderly and disabled populations. Sadly, the governor wasn’t even able to explain more than a couple minor reasons he had for vetoing our budget bill. You can see his response here, and it’s a weak argument for why he shouldn’t help millions of Minnesotans.
Though we came into the session with similar priorities of tax conformity, helping deputy registrars, combatting the opioid epidemic, protecting against elder abuse, and increasing funding for school safety, the governor decided his pride was more important than helping Minnesotans. By rejecting our attempts at bipartisan compromise, the governor is turning his back on disabled Minnesotans, students, our aging population, and millions of residents around the state. It’s sad to see politics take precedence over doing what's right by Minnesotans, but that’s what Dayton is choosing to do.
Those who will be hurt by the vetoes include:
- Victims of elder abuse & opioid addiction – vetoed fixes for these problems areas
- Victims of distracted driving – vetoed strengthening penalties
- People with disabilities, and their caretakers – vetoed fix to federal 7% cut to the Disability Waiver Rate System
- Citizens & deputy vehicle registrars – vetoed help with dealing with MNLARS hassles
- K-12 students – vetoed school safety funding, support for Head Start and Special Education programs
- Minnesota Taxpayers – vetoed a fix that was fair to everyone, now a large number of Minnesotans will see major increased in their next year’s state income tax bill
- Low-income working families – vetoed state help on federal child care subsidies
- Patients – vetoed transparent pricing for health care and prescription drugs
- Businesses and farmers – vetoed Section 179 conformity for equipment depreciation
Free Veteran Dental Care
As a reminder: Saturday, June 9 is an important day for our veterans. It's a chance for vets to receive free dental care at one of 450 Aspen Dental-branded practices in the US. Most veterans don’t receive dental benefits through the VA, so this is a time for our heroes to receive the care they need. For more information on the event, please click here.
Please Contact Me
Even though we’re out of session, I’d still like to hear from you with any ways I can be of service. Feel free to call or email my office and I’ll get right back to you.
Enjoy the weekend,
Peggy