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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL)

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RELEASE: 2015 Session: Duluth Reps Disappointed by Lack of Progress

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

May 19, 2015 (12:17AM)

SAINT PAUL, MN – Tonight, the Minnesota House adjourned, closing a session of disappointments for Greater Minnesota from the House Republican Majority. After campaigning on the promise to put Greater Minnesota first, the House Majority has passed a bare-bones budget and an education proposal that Governor Dayton has said he’ll veto.

The House majority failed to pass a tax bill, missing an opportunity to provide any kind of income or property tax relief to farmers or families. Many Greater Minnesota communities will be disappointed the legislature did not increase local government aid, which will likely result in property tax hikes. Two years ago Democrats invested in rural property tax relief, holding down property taxes for the first time in 12 years.

“I was disappointed we couldn’t make more progress for Greater Minnesota cities in my first session,” said freshman Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL—Duluth). “With a $2 billion surplus, I was really looking forward to making historic progress for Duluth families, kids, and seniors that need a champion. But the House majority prioritized tax cuts for corporations and refused to invest in schools and improved economic stability for northern Minnesota communities.”

In 2013-14, the DFL-led legislature invested $20 million for broadband as part of an infrastructure initiative lead by Rep. Erik Simonson (DFL – Duluth), and made investments in successful job creation initiatives like the Job Creation Fund, MIF, and Trade Offices to help Greater Minnesota businesses and workers. The House majority has reversed this progress.

“I’m not happy the Republicans weren’t able to work effectively on major issues we face as a state,” said Rep. Simonson. “But I am breathing a sigh of relief that Governor Dayton refused let their tax bill move forward, which would have decimated local government aid and raised property taxes for the City of Duluth.”

It was unclear in the chaos on the House floor at midnight whether an Omnibus Jobs/Energy bill had passed the full legislature or not.

After making promises about fixing the state’s crumbling transportation infrastructure, the House majority failed to pass a comprehensive transportation package and instead put forward a “lights on” proposal. They also failed to address oil train safety—a major issue for many rural communities along oil train lines.

“The failure of so many of these initiatives represents a failure to lead and an inability to find solution,” said Rep. Simonson. “There were many solutions presented to them, some by me personally. We offered permanent tax relief to middle class families. We offered to negotiate on transportation funding, broadband funding, better environmental policy, and other parachutes, but they would accept any of these common sense solutions.”

Perhaps the biggest failure of the session for Greater Minnesota is this year’s education bill, which shortchanges schools and faces a certain veto from Governor Dayton. The House majority has chosen to potentially go to a special session instead of investing in the Governor’s universal pre-K initiative. The 2015 budget does not continue a tuition freeze for the U of MN and MnSCU schools and fails to address rising student debt. The original House Republican budget, once fully phased in, would have invested $29 in tax cuts—mostly for corporations—to every $1 put toward education.

“Our schools and students need strong partners,” said Rep. Schultz. “Republicans have failed to provide the funding our K-12 schools need, and they’ve failed to freeze college tuition. We can’t say that we’re strong partners with a record like that. When we have the majority back we’ll do more for students.”

Rep. Schultz encourages community members to contact her on any legislative issue. She can be reached by email at rep.jennifer.schultz@house.mn or phone at 651-296-2228.

Rep. Simonson encourages community members to contact him on any legislative issue. He can be reached by email at rep.erik.simonson@house.mn or phone at 651-296-4246.

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