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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Congrats to the Andover boys’ hockey team on a great season. Although they lost Thursday night in the state tournament, they accomplished a lot this year and it was fun following their playoff run.
Last week at the Capitol I had the privilege of meeting and learning from a variety of folks from our community. Among those who visited were groups from the MN Bankers Association, MN Golf Course Association, MN Landscapers Association, MN Humane Society, Education MN, and students from the University of St. Thomas.
Last Thursday, a government-run paid family leave program was approved in the House. Family leave benefits are good for families as they allow parents to stay home with sick kids or people to tend to ill loved ones. Providing more Minnesotans with paid family leave access is something I hope more private businesses will embrace. However, the bill approved Thursday fails to provide a realistic path to achieving that.
The proposal is a one-size-fits-all program that would establish – and require all employers to enroll in – a new state insurance bureaucracy. This would be funded by new employer and employee payroll taxes that would result in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost wages for hardworking Minnesotans. Simply stated, it would take upwards of $2 billion directly from the paychecks of anyone earning wages and would be a huge financial burden to our small businesses. To facilitate the new agency, this plan would also require more than 300 new government employees and a complex new IT system.
The failures of MNsure and MNLARS have taught us the important lesson that we should not be looking to create more government bureaucracy and IT systems, especially when they take more money from Minnesotans’ paycheck. Given the huge tax increases and costs associated with creating this program, I could not support this proposal. Paid family leave for more Minnesotans is a worthwhile goal, but this problematic plan is not the solution.
I’m currently working on putting together a package of family law bills especially aimed at helping low-income families. One of the most rewarding parts of serving in the legislature is the ability to affect positive change in people’s lives, and I’m proud to always advocate for what’s best for families, children, and parents. I will be working on these bills as session moves along and will provide you with further details in the coming weeks.
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