Greetings from the Floor,
The House began passing omnibus finance bills off the floor last week. The Omnibus Tax and Natural Resources/Environment Bills were passed on Thursday. On Friday, the Omnibus Education and Transportation Bills were passed. Some details of the bills are as follows:
Taxes
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increases the provisional income thresholds at which Social Security benefits are taxed to $61,000 (married joint filings) and $46,500 (all other filers) for tax years 2017 and 2018; and increases the thresholds to $72,000 and $56,000, respectively for married joint and all other filers, beginning in tax year 2019
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50% credit on agricultural property taxes for school building levies
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exempts the first $200,000 in value for state business property taxes
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moves $450 million from the General Fund to new dedicated transportation funding
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includes child and dependent care tax credits
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includes tax credits for student loan payments
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conforms with the federal tax code on estate taxes
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allows for K-12 tax credits to be used on tuition
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does not include increases to Local Government Aid, County Program Aid or Township Aid
The bill also contains $3 million for the Border City Enterprise and Development Zone, the Clay County local option sales tax and the Moorhead TIF district provision. I support some parts of the Tax Bill (increased Social Security exemptions, agricultural property tax credit, state business property tax exemption), but at $1.3 billion the overall cost of the bill doesn’t allow for other priorities in our state budget. Some of these other priorities are increases for K-12 funding to keep up with inflation, tuition freezes at all public higher education campuses and wage increases for long-term care workers. I did not vote for the Tax Bill.
Natural Resources/Environment
The bill was drafted with a funding cut of $21.3 million. The bill also contained 28 policy provisions that were never heard in committee. I did not agree with the overall process of how the bill was put together, and did not vote for the bill.
Transportation
The bill was written around a $450 million shift from the General Fund to new dedicated transportation funding. I don’t take issue with General Fund money being dedicated for transportation, but I do have concerns with this particular bill. For one, the new dedicated funding is not enough to address projected transportation deficits (which are around $600 million per year for the next ten years). Any dedicated transportation funding from the General Fund needs to be complimented with other revenue sources (like gas taxes, registration fees or bonding dollars). Lastly, using only General Fund dollars that are re-purposed for dedicated transportation funding leaves holes in other areas in the state budget, which is another reason any dedicated General Fund money for transportation needs to be complimented with other revenue sources. I did not vote for the Omnibus Transportation Bill.
Education
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includes a 1.25% funding increase for school districts
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eliminates voluntary pre-kindergarten in the next biennium
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makes cuts to school breakfast and lunch programs
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holds special education funding flat
Low funding in the Education Bill was one of the biggest impacts of such a large Tax Bill. At a time when our state budget and economy are healthy, education is the strongest way to build on this prosperity and grow our economy into the future. With a $1.6 billion surplus, underfunding education (or in some cases cutting education) is absolutely unnecessary and unacceptable. I did not vote for the bill.
Other bills passed off the House floor this week were:
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HF 837 (appropriates $105 million to the Department of Transportation from the Trunk Highway fund to secure reimbursement of federal dollars under the FAST Act)
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SF 218 (allows people to mow or hay on Trunk Highway right-of-ways any time of year without Department of Transportation permits)
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SF 662 (allows students from accredited dentistry schools to participate in internship supervised dentistry practices without waivers)
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HF 474 (authorizes the Board of Medical Practice to do background checks on physicians)
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HF 792 (changes rules at the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to not mandate sprinklers in twin homes)
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I worked with Rep. Theis (St. Cloud) on this bill by offering comments about the importance of twin homes to Moorhead’s housing growth when the bill was heard in committees and on the floor. I was glad this bill passed the House unanimously. Also, it has support from DOLI, Governor Dayton, the state homebuilders association and fire chiefs.
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SF 151 (clarifies law around co-owner rights to a vehicle subject to forfeiture because of a DWI by another co-owner)
On another note, legislators received a letter from University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler announcing the Land-Grant Legacy Scholarship. It’s a new initiative to attract and retain more students from Greater Minnesota, and is funded through private donations.
According to the University, the new effort will launch beginning in fall 2017 with the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) on the Twin Cities campus. Over the next four years, the scholarship will provide students $5,000 each year for four years. When fully implemented, the effort will support 100 students annually.
If you would like more information on the scholarship, please see the full release.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben