Greetings from the House Floor,
I want to start this update by letting folks know the League of Women Voters is hosting a legislative forum on Thursday April 2nd at 6:30 pm at the Moorhead Public Library. Sen. Eken, Rep. Marquart and I will be there to give a session update and answer questions. I hope we have a great turnout!
The House Republicans released their transportation plan and biennial budget this week. Details of each plan are as follows:
Transportation
· $228 million in General Fund spending in FY 2015
· Shift sales tax revenue on auto parts sales, vehicle rentals and leased vehicles from the General Fund to a new dedicated “Transportation Stability Fund”. This would allocate $3.2 billion dollars over the next 10 years.
· Use 90% of the unreserved Trunk Highway Fund balance and efficiencies in future Minnesota Dept. of Transportation revenues to allocate $628 million over the next 10 years
· $2.35 billion in bonding over the next 10 years. This would come from $1.3 billion in Trunk Highway Bonds and $1.05 billion in General Obligation Bonds
· Additional shifts from the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund to the General Fund and cuts to the General Fund
All total this would result in $7.01 billion over the next 10 years for transportation and infrastructure needs. My concern with this plan is largely that it takes money from the General Fund and creates a new dedicated fund for transportation. Minnesota already has a dedicated transportation fund and taking money to create a new dedicated fund takes money from other needs such as education, senior care and economic development.
Biennial Budget
· $2.2 billion dollars in unspecified tax cuts
· A formula increase of .9% for K-12 education
· An increase of $53 million for higher education. This, on top of taking surplus money from the State Grant program, is proposed to pay for a tuition freeze at either the University of Minnesota or the Minnesota State College and University system. Also, this would not allow for any increases to State Grant recipients.
· $1.1 billion dollars in cuts to health care services for seniors and those with disabilities
· Cuts to other areas such as economic development as well as the State Government and Veterans Affairs Committee
· An unspent balance of $314 million would be left on the bottom line
This budget frustrates me as we are standing on a $1.87 billion surplus. I think it is good to leave a cushion on the bottom line as the Republicans do, but I don’t think we need to cut (or shortchange) any one area in order to make room for unspecified tax breaks. Tax breaks need to be targeted and we need to use the surplus and strong economy we have right now to provide as many opportunities as possible for all Minnesotans to get ahead. Also, even with the cuts to many areas of the state budget, non-partisan House Fiscal Analysts marked the proposal as an increase of $1.4 billion over the next 2 years. Despite all the rhetoric from the GOP that the state budget is too big, it grows under their plan.
The only bill passed off the House floor this week was HF 1027, which would establish a tiered wage for tipped employees. This was a very difficult issue for me and in the end I did vote for the bill. Also, I wrote and passed an amendment that would mandate employers notify job applicants of the tiered wage policy during a job interview. This is so job applicants have as much information as possible about a new job to appropriately plan household and family budgets. I heard from many folks in our district, both in and out of the restaurant industry, that the tiered wage in this bill would help Moorhead get more restaurants and businesses.
I had a committee hearing on Wednesday evening for my bill HF 1627 in the Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee. This bill would appropriate $20 million for the Adult Program at the 16 Workforce Service Areas across the state. The Adult Program assists individuals to identify skills, develop career plans, transition from job training to the workforce and improve skills for career advancement. Our local Workforce Service Area is the Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program. Currently, the Workforce Service Areas receive direct federal funding and must compete for state dollars through grants. If HF 1627 becomes law, it would be the first time the Workforce Service Areas receive a direct appropriation from the state. The bill did not have any dissent from the committee members and was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.
The legislature is on break next week for the Easter and Passover holidays. We will resume business on April 7th. I have several meetings planned with constituents in the district over the break and look forward to spending time with my family.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben