Dear Friends,
It is already March - I can't believe we are already in the third month of this year.
This week we received the most recent budget forecast, and it appears that Minnesota now has a $9.25 budget surplus. This is even more than the original estimate from back in December. This money could do so much good for our state and our families. We should use these funds to end the social security tax, refill our unemployment insurance fund, assure that all reserve funds are replenished, and then the lions share should go back to you— the taxpayer! If we have billions of dollars in a surplus once again, we are clearly collecting too much!
I recently joined 16 of my colleagues when signing a letter urging President Biden to commit to American energy independence. If the President would open the Keystone XL pipeline, 830,000 barrels a day of oil could soon be available, which is more than the amount of oil we import from Russia. We cannot keep spending more of our paychecks at the gas pump. We also asked the President to end the cancellation of mineral leases in Minnesota. During his State of the Union, President Biden said more microchips would be made in America. But we cannot make these chips without minerals, which we have right here in Minnesota!
I look forward to the next few weeks of our session. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you!