Dear Neighbors,
Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and I want to wish the best to my colleagues in classrooms around the state. The past two years have been impossibly difficult for educators, and we know our students are counting on additional resources to succeed.
The House recently passed our E-12 Education finance bill, I was honored to be appointed to represent the House on a conference committee where we will negotiate a final bill with the Senate. With a sizable budget surplus, I'm hopeful we can deliver investments in literacy, mental health, early learning, and other critical priorities to help all students have the bright future they deserve.
Frontline Worker Pay
I was proud to support a bipartisan agreement to deliver $500 million worth of bonus payments to frontline workers. Governor Walz quickly signed this compromise that will offer the extra “thank you” our frontline workers have been waiting for over a year. Minnesotans can now visit frontlinepay.mn.gov to subscribe to important updates. Once the application process opens – a few weeks from now – workers will have 45 days to apply. A full FAQ document, including eligibility information, is available here.
Polar Vortex Relief
Last week, the House passed a package of new tax credits and rebates to help Minnesotans who are struggling with rising costs. The legislation included my proposal to offer rebates to municipal utilities, including Hibbing Public Utilities, that faced extreme increases in the wholesale price of natural gas during last year’s Polar Vortex in the southern United States. The bill also offers tax credits for ratepayers who faced excessive energy costs during that five-day period.
Despite the weather event occurring over a thousand miles away, a sudden spike in natural gas prices left municipal utility customers holding the bag. The massive price increase couldn’t have come at a worse time considering all the COVID-related difficulties our businesses and families were already navigating. I’m grateful our House Tax bill includes this significant relief to help people in Hibbing and other municipal utility customers. As the bill now goes into conference committee with Senate Republicans – who I hope will remain fully engaged in the session’s remaining weeks – I urge them to support this critical assistance to ratepayers.
Helping Minnesotans Tackle Rising Costs
In addition to ratepayer relief from last year’s polar vortex, our House Tax legislation included a variety of new tax cuts, credits and rebates to help Minnesotans who are struggling with rising costs. The majority of the benefits in the legislation will directly help families with young children, senior citizens living on fixed incomes, and people with student loan debt. The plan includes the biggest property tax cut in the last two decades – legislation I worked on – by expanding eligibility and benefits under the Homestead Credit Refund and Renter’s Credit while making it easier for filers to apply. As a result, more than 150,000 additional renters will qualify, with an average benefit of $700. Statewide, 30% of Renter’s Credit recipients are seniors or people with disabilities. In addition, more than 1.3 million homes that currently qualify for the Homestead Credit will see a property tax cut.
The legislation will help seniors by expanding the social security property tax exemption. As a result of this measure, no senior who has an adjusted gross income under $75,000 (married joint) or $58,600 (other filers) will pay one dime in income tax on their social security payments. The bill also included provisions I offered to increase County Program Aid and expand the tax exemption for construction materials used on broadband projects. With a large budget surplus and rapidly rising costs, we should target resources to the middle-class Minnesotans who will benefit the most from extra money in their pockets. A fact sheet about the bill is available here.
Post-9/11 Service Bonuses
The House and Senate have reached a bipartisan compromise on our Veterans & Military Affairs supplemental budget. I’m incredibly proud the agreement includes my provision to offer service bonuses to post-9/11 veterans. Approximately 48,000 eligible veterans, over half of whom deployed to combat operations including those in Afghanistan or Iraq, will be eligible for these bonuses, as well as Gold Star families. These bonuses continue our tradition of recognizing veterans’ service in major wars; Minnesota has previously offered bonuses for those who served during conflicts including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War.
Heading into the session’s final weeks, I hope the spirit of compromise can continue and we will deliver the necessary resources to help Minnesotans overcome the challenges they’re facing and strengthen opportunities across the state.
Keep in Touch
Please continue to contact me with your input, ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. You can contact me by phone at 651-296-0172 or email at rep.julie.sandstede@house.mn. You can also follow me on Facebook. It’s an honor to represent you.
Together,
Julie Sandstede
State Representative