LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM
REP. JEREMY MUNSON - DISTRICT 23B
Sunday, February 27, 2022
This Week, Representative Greg Davids and I held a moment of silence on the House floor for our friend, Congressman Jim Hagedorn. Jim’s passion for the issues and his love of serving his constituents brought steadfast leadership to our district. I’ll always be thankful for Jim’s mentorship, support, and friendship.
No more mask requirement on school busses or in Capitol
This week, the CDC changed its guidelines to no longer require masks on school busses and public transportation. This change comes alongside the loosening of other COVID restrictions ahead of the midterm elections.
The Speaker of the House also lifted the mask mandate for legislators who wish to speak on the House floor and for visitors to the Capitol. The lobbyists have flooded the Capitol lobby again and we are seeing crowds of activists gathering in the rotunda. The State Office Building, where our district office is located, remains closed to the public until March 21st. Please contact my office if you would like to set up a meeting in the district or we can meet in the Capitol until then.
Senator Rosen Retires
Senator Julie Rosen has served Minnesota in government for 20 years, holding two of the most critical gavels in the Senate for our state: Finance, and Energy.
Governors like to claim that they are responsible for a state staying in the black. They pretend it is their sound fiscal management that caused it. But what many people don’t understand is that the partnership, willing or not, of the House Ways and Means Chair and the Senate Finance Chair produces the result that we see in the state’s credit rating and budget balances. (We can blame our high taxes on the Chairs of the Taxes committees and the Governor!) Governors propose, but legislators dispose.
Each time in the last several cycles, Senator Rosen represented our interests, not just Minnesota Interests but our Southern Minnesota interests. She and I might have made different choices about when and how hard to press the Governor on spending, but my time in the legislature tells me that those negotiations are never easy, and you must work with whatever leverage you have to create an agreement that results in a balanced budget.
Julie Rosen is also one of the people in this state who has been most responsible for resolving challenges to the fiscal soundness of the State’s Pension system as a member and Chair of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement. The state pension system is a permanent obligation on the state that the courts have upheld many times, with limited opportunities for reform. We can thank her for helping to keep our Pension system solvent, unlike states like California and Illinois, where Pension obligations have threatened to undermine the entire state’s finances.
Julie’s work was critical to keeping our state’s finances in order.
We have all benefited greatly from her dedication. She made sure Southern Minnesota was not forgotten at the legislature in favor of the Twin Cities and other regions in the state. We will miss her impact on policy and her attention to detail.
Taxpayer Surplus Gifted to “Frontline” Workers
Yesterday, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted on HF 2900. This bill is the Democrat plan to give $1 billion of your surplus tax money to “frontline” workers. Essentially, this bill allows any frontline worker to apply for a one-time, $1,500 check if they worked only three weeks during COVID. As you can imagine, the definition of a frontline worker is extremely broad and encompasses many Democrat interest groups and unions.
Fundamentally, this bill redistributes your surplus tax dollars through a charity, which is paid $750,000 to advertise and market these payments. On the house floor, I spoke about the legislators who personally will benefit from receiving payments from this fund and asked if they would recuse themselves from voting. They still voted to pay themselves.
I cannot overstate how much COVID, and the government’s response to COVID, caused havoc on our society. It destroyed lives, and livelihoods. Government cannot make you whole by taking your money and giving it back to you.
I voted against HF 2900. However, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 71-61. Fortunately, this bill has not been passed by the Senate and there is no agreement on how much to spend or which groups of voters to pay.
Three Months Left - Where Is Your Surplus?
This legislative session ends in three months, and the taxpayer surplus keeps growing. Tomorrow, we expect to hear you have continued to overpay State government when Minnesota Management & Budget revises its forecast. This will be the final number used by both parties to create a massive supplemental spending bill, which will likely include huge increases in spending coupled with small refund checks and a few tax cuts.
Thank you for being engaged in your government,
Jeremy Munson
State Representative, 23B
Contact:
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact my office or me. We are still attempting to provide regular contact remotely, so if you have other needs, please email my Legislative Assistant, Grayson, at Grayson.mcnew@house.mn.
Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV
Video: Streaming Website. Also, you can watch committees and Floor Sessions on YouTube.