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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R)

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SAFE AT HOME PROGRAM APPROVED IN MINNESOTA HOUSE

Friday, April 20, 2018

This week, the Minnesota House approved legislation I’m sponsoring that improves the Safe at home program. It was created in 2006 to provide a statewide address confidentiality program that would be administered by the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.

 

For victims of stalking, domestic violence, sexual assault and others who fear for their safety, this is of utmost importance. If their address is not confidential, the likelihood that the perpetrator could find them and continue the cycle of abuse is a near given.

 

As I’ve shared before, Safe at Home works by giving participants a legal substitute address – a Post Office box – to use in place of their physical address. The program participant can then go about his or her daily life without leaving traces of where they can be found, keeping their aggressor at bay.

 

Very simply my bill strengthens the program and will hopefully provide even better confidentiality to those who need it. The bill now heads to the Minnesota Senate for its approval.

 

Also this week, a new analysis conducted by Governor Dayton's own Department of Revenue shows that tax changes proposed in the governor's supplemental budget would raise taxes on Minnesotans of every income level and make Minnesota's tax code more regressive.

 

The review found that under the Governor's plan, Minnesotans in every income bracket -- not just the rich -- would experience a tax increase, and that households making less than $32,000 would be hit hardest.

 

In all, Governor Dayton has proposed reinstating more than $1 billion in health care tax increases, repealing tax reductions enacted last session, and numerous changes reacting to tax changes at the federal level.

 

Minnesota currently has a budget surplus because the tax relief proposals enacted at the state and federal level are working. In my opinion, the last thing we need to do is raise taxes on rich and poor Minnesotans and everyone in between.

As always, I am interested in your feedback. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at Rep.Kathy.Lohmer@House.MN or contact my office at 651-296-4244. You can also send mail to my office address: 501 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.

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