Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Legislative News and Views - Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R)

Back to profile

Legislative Update from Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen

Monday, April 15, 2019

 Dear Neighbors,

This week, House Democrats released the details of their tax omnibus bill. As you can probably imagine, their tax bill raises an incredible amount of money over the 2020-21 and 2022-2023 biennium.

In total, their tax bill will increase taxes by more than $4 billion over the next four years with most of the increases on businesses. While you’ll likely hear about the direct tax relief in the bill from Democrats, and there is some, what they won’t tell you is that all the taxes will directly increase consumer prices and reduce wages for working Minnesotans.

These massive tax increases are part of a broader push by Democrats to make life more expensive for hardworking Minnesotans and their families. In fact, Democrats are proposing more than $12 billion in tax increases over the next four years across the entirety of their proposed state budget. At a time when Minnesota has a $1 billion surplus, this level of tax increases is totally unnecessary and excessive.

In addition to the tax omnibus bill, Democrats are proposing massive increases to transportation-related taxes including a 70% gas tax increase as well as higher tab fees and an increase to the metro area sales tax. In total, their transportation proposal raises taxes by $3.87 billion over the next four years.

Their proposal to reinstate the provider tax figures to be a $2.55 billion tax increase on health care services over the next four years.

Finally, their proposed paid sick and family leave legislation would tax employees and employers to the tune of $2.074 billion over the course of the next four years.

In total, Democrats have proposed over $12 billion in tax increases on Minnesotans and Minnesota businesses. As we’ve seen time and again, Democrats’ answer to every problem is to tax and spend.

There’s a better way forward thanks to the proposed budget from Senate Republicans. It is my hope that they will be able to hold the line and prevent many of these tax increases from becoming law.

Stay tuned for more information on end-of-session news as we move into the final month of the legislation session.

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me to share your thoughts, questions, and concerns. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-4229 or via email at rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn.

Have a great week,

Glenn