Dear Neighbor,
After four months at the Capitol, the 92nd Legislature adjourned on Monday, May 23 as our State Constitution requires. While there were accomplishments, some priorities – tax relief and improved public safety – are still on the table.
House conference committee chairs, with Gov. Walz in the background dictating what those chairs could and could not agree to with their Senate counterparts, stymied progress in many key areas.
There is fundamental disagreement over adding billions of dollars in new permanent state government spending. That new spending could be paid for with the current surplus, but that sets up future tax increases to sustain that spending. This is not a budget year; state government is fully funded through June 30, 2023.
The liberal segment that controls the House with the Governor’s backing held hostage social security pension tax relief, progress on public safety measures and a bonding bill. Their approach would add $21 in new spending for at best only about $1 in permanent tax relief. That is not something that anyone who has balanced a checkbook could agree to.
We made some progress. We replenished Minnesota’s unemployment insurance trust fund to pre-COIVID levels. That included repaying the federal loan and ending the $50,000 per day interest payments. With economic storm clouds on the horizon, that fund must be healthy and available as increasing energy prices and rising inflation continues to nudge us toward a recession.
Minnesota’s health reinsurance program was renewed. That will continue to stabilize health insurance premiums for those self-employed and others that must buy health insurance in the independent market. We fixed unintended wage disparities among various groups of state law enforcement officers.
Military veterans serving as State Highway Patrol, Conservation Officers and BCA Investigators now join county and city law enforcement officers with prior military service with the ability to buy credits toward retirement based on their active-duty military service. I and Senator Anderson were honored to carry that legislation.
The governor may call a special session later this year. Exempting social security pensions from state income tax still can be done. We can provide proper funding to help local law enforcement and increase criminal penalties and convictions – including cracking down on fentanyl as we continue to deal with record-setting overdose deaths.
I remain convinced that with extreme energy prices and high inflation, this is not the time to drive Minnesota into new, unwarranted spending.
Sincerely,
Dale