Dear Neighbor,
We are nearing the home stretch of the 2022 legislative session and here are some recent notes on developing issues:
Seeking permanent, meaningful tax relief
Minnesota has a massive state government surplus of approximately $10 billion and our state’s citizens are among the nation’s highest taxed at a time we’re all looking for some relief.
Republicans in the Legislature propose providing immediate and permanent tax relief to help ease the burden. Meanwhile, House Democrats and the governor are seeking more short-term gimmicks along with significant government expansion.
The Senate Republican proposal would provide more than $8.43 billion in tax relief over the next three years, which would be the biggest tax cut in Minnesota history. This includes eliminating the Social Security income tax. The average relief would be $1,313 for the 410,900 Minnesotans who pay this tax. Senate Republicans also propose providing a rate cut on income taxes, which would improve Minnesota’s ranking as the ninth-highest state and local individual income tax collections per capita. The average tax relief per filer would be $759, with a family making $100,000 per year receiving a tax break of $1066 every year.
These proposals represent meaningful, overarching tax reductions that would benefit all Minnesotans year after year.
House Democrats are taking a different approach by proposing to spend more on various forms of aid and picking winners and losers by isolating certain groups of people. For example, their proposal only includes a partial Social Security tax reduction instead of the full repeal Republicans in the House and Senate support. And, interestingly, House Democrats did not include the governor’s checks in their plan.
Click here for the full text of a legislative column of mine which takes a closer look at this issue.
MPR appearance to discuss Paid Family Leave
I recently participated in a Minnesota Public Radio show which delved into Paid Family Leave proposals. It was an opportunity to highlight the differences between Democrat legislation and a bill I authored that is flexible, and helps private businesses do what they do best without yet another government mandate. We don’t need a new government bureaucracy financed by a large tax increase accompanied with stringent mandates and penalties to provide paid leave. Click here to hear the show.
California fuel regs in Minn.?
House Democrats and the Walz administration recently held a hearing and released a report pushing controversial California-style regulations that would increase pain at the pump even more.
Research indicates the California Fuel Standards proposal would cause the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel to increase by 20 cents per gallon in the near term and up to 54 cents per gallon by 2035. The CFS would force the average Minnesota household to spend an additional $210 to $570 per year, every single year at the pump. The Star Tribune recently ran a frontpage story “High fuel costs threaten Minnesota economy” highlighting the pain it's causing to Minnesotans and our economy.
Placing new fuel mandates on our state would only make things worse.
Have a good weekend and, as always, let me know how I can help.
Sincerely,
Jordan