St. Paul- State Representative Tama Theis (R-St. Cloud) joined the remainder of the Minnesota House and Senate in a one-day special session at the State Capitol Monday. Legislators passed a bill providing funding for storm damage costs incurred in late June. Stearns, Benton, Morrison and 15 other counties across the state will receive a share of approximately $4.5 million in state aid. Theis gave the following statement in response.
"The legislature has a tradition of coming together to provide disaster relief to our citizens in times of need. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to see a different disaster, a man-made one, go unaddressed in yesterday's meeting of the legislature. Governor Dayton told Minnesotans he supported a repeal of damaging business-to-business taxes just weeks ago. He told us he didn't support them in the first place. He told us they were a "very bad mistake" and that he wasn't even aware they were part of the bills he signed in May. When push came to shove, however, Dayton went back on his word and opposed the proposal to fix the tax mistakes of the last session when we met Monday for other business. Small businesses, farmers, middle-class families and everyone in-between are impacted by these new tax increases."