Dear Neighbor,
Just when you think House Democrats could not be more out of touch with reality, they go ahead and hold a hearing this week for a bill that would raise gas prices at a time they already are at record highs.
The bill is HF2083 and it would force California Fuel Standards on Minnesotans. Research indicates the CFS proposal would cause the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel to increase by 20 cents per gallon in the near term and up to 54 cents per gallon by 2035. The California mandate would force the average Minnesota household to spend an additional $210 to $570 per year, every single year at the pump.
These cost increases would harm rural families, single-parent households, and new arrivals to Minnesota the most because they already spend a higher portion of their budgets on energy costs than more affluent households. This bill also would be very damaging to farmers at a time they already are battling tight margins and rising costs of inputs. Not to mention the toll even higher gas prices would take on the transportation industry, resulting in higher costs for consumers who already are facing 40-year price increases.
The good news is this bill is unlikely to gain traction in the Legislature since Republicans control the Senate. That said, the governor has shown how much he likes issuing unilateral mandates and he could go around the Legislature by implementing this through the administrative process the same way he forced electric cars on the market in Minnesota.
In other news, we are reaching the end of the first fiscal quarter of the year and Minnesota employers are now seeing increases on their unemployment insurance rates come to light after House Democrats stopped preventative legislation from reaching enactment.
This tax increase is completely unnecessary and easily could have been avoided but now it’s becoming real for employers who are seeing their rates increase. There has been no real movement in the House on this issue, even though resolution is simple: All the House needs to do is to approve the same bipartisan bill the Senate passed more than one month ago by a veto-proof margin. Instead, House Democrats prevented the bill from even coming up for a vote so we could send it to the governor for enactment.
Employers could face state and federal penalties if they do not comply with the state’s new unemployment insurance tax rates, a minimum $250 per month for late filing/payment or $10 per employee, whichever is more. Federal penalties could be up to 15 percent of the amount owed, plus potential criminal penalties.
I encourage employers to keep an eye on their tax tables to make sure they are square. Given the serious consequences, it was bad advice for some Democrats to suggest to job providers that they “wait and see” on UI tax relief instead of following their prescribed payment schedule. The last thing we need is for people to incur penalties and have problems compound because House Democrats dropped the ball on this issue.
Sincerely,
Steve