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Legislative Update: Attack of the MEGA Omnibus Bills!

Sunday, May 1, 2022
Rep. Jeremy Munson

 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM
REP. JEREMY MUNSON - DISTRICT 23B

Sunday, May 1st, 2022

This past week has become an unofficial holiday at the Minnesota House. Not one shared at home celebrating with friends and family but marked by long nights at the capitol debating unconstitutional omnibus bills. The DFL has made it their modus operandi to compile these massive, sometimes thousand-page bills that cover nearly the entire year's work for its respective committee. Not only are these omnibus bills prohibited in our state's constitution, but they were done so in the name of expediency. The same excuse the DFL used two years ago to hand power over to the Governor to handle the “COVID-19 emergency.”

Omnibus Season

When our government was formed, it was created with three distinct and separate branches of Government. Writing legislation and passing laws was a deliberative and slow process, and it was meant to be that way. The reason is that Government, at its core, is an agreement that people make to give up some rights and freedoms in exchange for protection. We don’t want a government that values haste while it tramples on our rights and freedoms.

Last year when the House adjourned, we had passed all of the bills necessary to fully fund the state into 2023. Traditionally the first half of the biennium is for budget bills and the second for policy bills. But the legislature and the Governor are no longer abiding by this tradition. Instead, when the DFL heard that there was $12 billion in the state coffers - in an election year - they had already broken out the checkbook. 

As conservatives, we judge success by what an individual can do. The left thinks we are incompetent and that they know how best to take care of us. If the last two years have taught us anything, it's that Government never creates solutions, only more problems. 

When the legislature adjourned last year, not only did we fully fund the state through 2023, we increased spending significantly using both state and federal funds. The DFL passed, and Senate Republicans signed off on a $51.7 billion budget, the largest in the state's history. This year, with the growing surplus, the DFL has proposed an additional $7.36 billion in additional spending. 

Earlier this week, we received some concerning economic news: the economy is shrinking. The United States saw a drop in GDP of 1.4% as supply chains are still dysfunctional and inflation is taking a significant bite out of middle-class incomes. People are changing their spending habits, cutting back, and tightening their budgets, yet the DFL is still spending as if the surpluses will continue. Almost half of this surplus is one-time money, and the DFL is creating programs with ongoing and growing costs. If you are a small business owner like I am, you know this is no way to run a business, let alone our state. 

The DFL seems to have forgotten that this surplus didn’t appear out of thin air; it was earned by this state's hardworking men and women, and they deserve it back. That is why I have been leading the push to return the surplus with my bill HF1922 which would return all of the state's surplus to the taxpayer. If we used the entire surplus we could return nearly $4,000 to every Minnesota taxpayer, not the $300 check Governor Walz has proposed. 

By returning the taxpayers' money, we would be reinvesting into our citizens and placing our trust in their hands. Government works for you, not the other way around.

Thank you for being engaged in Government,

Jeremy Munson

State Representative, 23B

Contact

If you have any questions regarding COVID-19, 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.

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