Dear Friends,
Yesterday the House overwhelmingly voted to remove the Governor's authority to increase salaries following two weeks of controversy over $800,000 in pay increases given to members of his executive cabinet.
One week after the Governor promised to veto any bill that removed his power to decide commissioner salaries, he finally came to realize that his grandstanding over the issue was out of touch with what Minnesotans expect.
The power to decide commissioner salaries now is back in the hands of the legislature, where the public can make their voices heard and weigh in on the issue. Taxpayers are the ones who pay these salaries, they should be involved in the process of setting them, and have the ability to speak out if they feel proposed salaries are inappropriate.
The bill also included stopgap funding for state agencies, and asks those agencies to live within their means by finding other cost savings and efficiencies to close funding shortfalls due to unexpected costs. Overall this was a good bill that attracted overwhelming bipartisan support.
Charity Health Care Services Bill
On Monday, my bill to provide tax deductions for health professionals who provide charity health care services to those in need passed its first committee in the Health and Human Services Reform Committee.
The bill now moves to the Taxes Committee. I'm hopeful we can continue to move this bill through the process because if passed, it will help encourage thousands of health professionals to consider charity work that will improve the lives of thousands of patients who need it most.
Have a great weekend,
Glenn Gruenhagen
State Representative, District 18B