St. Paul, MN - With 11 days left until the first quarter unemployment insurance (UI) payments are due, Representative John Heinrich, R-Anoka, is calling on House Democrats to fulfill their promises to Minnesota job creators and reverse the harmful unemployment insurance tax increase that went into effect last month.
“We worked for weeks trying to reverse this unnecessary tax burden before the deadline,” Heinrich said. “Now the deadline is days away and no movement has been made on this bill. Where are the Democrats? They promised our businesses they would have a solution.”
Minnesota has a more than $9.25 billion surplus and can afford to fill the Unemployment Trust Fund to solvency. This would reverse the tax increases on employers and stop Minnesota from having to borrow $50,000 a day from the federal government. House Democrats brushed off the original March 15 deadline, insisting that lawmakers had until April 30 when tax bills were due to take action.
The Minnesota Senate passed a bill to refill the UI trust fund on February 14 on a broadly bipartisan 55-11 vote. Replenishing the UI Trust Fund enjoys broad support from Gov. Walz, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, and Senate Democrats, but has been stalled thanks to inaction by the House Democrat majority — it's been 69 days since the bill last received a hearing, and Democrats have excluded UI repayment from their budget targets released this week.
“It is clear the priorities of the Democrats are not on the businesses or people of Minnesota who are so badly struggling between inflation, supply chain issues and now this,” Heinrich said. “Unemployment trust, public safety, education. The list goes on. The Democrats continue to fail Minnesotans and not deliver.”
###