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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The biggest news at the Capitol this week was the rollout of the governor's budget proposal. This is the first step in the process to creating the two-year budget. By no means will this be the final budget but some of the details, described more in depth below, were quite disappointing.
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Pork Promoter of the Year
Congratulations to Mike Patterson of Goodhue County for being recognized as this year's Pork Promoter of the Year by the Minnesota Pork Board. Mike and his wife Rebekah, along with their four daughters, run their family farm and have done a great job being ambassadors for Minnesota's pork industry. Read their story here and congrats again to the Pattersons!
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Gov. Walz Budget Proposal
Gov. Tim Walz's budget proposal calls for $1.7 billion in new taxes including a 10% income tax increase, a 15% hike to Minnesota's business tax, and regressive tax hikes on cigarettes and vaping products that disproportionately hit low-income Minnesotans. The governor is proposing just .3% in cuts ($150 million) out of a $52+ billion budget.
The budget proposal put forward this week by the governor was disappointing. At a time when so many Minnesota families and businesses are struggling to make it through the pandemic and shutdowns, raising taxes, unnecessarily, on job creators is not the way to close our budget deficit. Instead, we should be looking at closing our budget deficit by using our budget reserves and spending cuts — state government must engage in the belt-tightening every Minnesota business and family has done over the past year.
The Governor’s budget release serves as the way the administration can show the legislature what his priorities are. Developing the budget – per our constitution - is chiefly the responsibility of the legislature and that begins with committee work in the House. This work will go on for the next four months with committee hearings and floor debate. Because we are a divided legislature, the final two-year budget will require a bipartisan compromise that passes both the House and Senate. And that final budget then goes to the Governor for passage or a veto at the end of May. I look forward to working to find that compromise during this legislative session.
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Wedding Venue Restrictions
During Thursday's floor session, Representative Ron Kresha offered an amendment to end the severe restrictions on wedding venues imposed by Governor Walz's executive order earlier this month.
Restricting wedding venues to 10 or 15 people while allowing restaurants and other businesses to be open at a much higher capacity is a double standard clearly not based on science.
It is time to trust Minnesota wedding venues to safely continue operating so that the many industries that rely on them, not to mention engaged couples across the state, can have some certainty.
Keeping weddings so tightly regulated not only causes hardship for families, but it also has a trickle-down effect that causes economic harm for a whole host of businesses and individuals including catering companies, restaurants, florists, party rental companies, salons, DJs, bands, photographers, hotels, and many others.
I spoke on this issue on the house floor, watch here.
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Vote to End Emergency Powers
We also voted on Thursday for the 10th time to end the governor's emergency powers. Our efforts were once again blocked by the House Majority. I will continue to work to safely transition us from operating under the governor's emergency powers to a more normal constitutional order.
In roughly forty days, we will have been living under emergency powers for a year. I am working with my colleagues – on both sides of the aisle - to end this and have the legislature resume its’ role in governing.
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Vaccines
I continue to field calls and emails with constituents frustrated with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. I share this frustration with the frequently changing plans and guidance from the state. The fact that the people who are most vulnerable to this disease have to rely on getting through a swamped website to register for a chance to win an appointment for a vaccine is a travesty.
My commitment to you is to continue to press this issue with MDH and the Governor’s office so that we improve and ramp up the vaccination process. l am partnering with our healthcare leaders and county health officials, and participant in weekly updates from MDH so that I can advocate for our seniors who are at most risk of contracting COVID-19 and dying. This should be our first priority, followed by any at-risk teachers so our kids can get back to in person learning.
With the constant state of new information, it is best to check the following links regularly for updates:
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STAYING IN TOUCH
As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding any issue, please contact me. You can reach me at rep.barb.haley@house.mn or 651-296-8635.
Sincerely,
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/RepBarbHaley
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239 State Office Bldg.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-8635
rep.barb.haley@house.mn |
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