Omnibus Budget Bills
These last two weeks the Minnesota House & Senate have been busy passing our Omnibus Budget bills With Democrats in the majority in the House and Republicans in the Senate, the first round of bills that have been passed in the last two weeks and early next week will be negotiated again in conference committees consisting of members of both the House & Senate.
It's a good thing these bills will be renegotiated, as there was plenty to dislike in bills passed by the House — almost all of them on a purely partisan basis. With a May 17 date for the Legislature to adjourn, there is enough time to bridge gaps and reach common ground, which I hope we will do without needing a special session. Some of those bills include:
Transportation Omnibus –At a time when Minnesota has a $4 billion surplus, this bill contains a gas and a light rail tax hike, as well as tab fee increase, and other increases totaling $1.6 billion over the next four years. These tax increases will hit Minnesotans of all income levels at a time when many are still struggling, and they will make Minnesota a more expensive place to live and drive. We do not need to raise taxes to take care of one of our most basic functions of government. While the state government is flush with funds, we should be investing that money in the core functions of government.
Taxes Omnibus – Minnesota has a $4 billion surplus, and yet the Tax Omnibus Bill still raises over a billion dollars in new taxes and holds relief for small businesses and workers hostage. The proposal would give Minnesota the 2nd highest income tax rate in the country and directly impact many businesses who have been hit hard during the pandemic. But most egregiously, it fails to fully exempt PPP by capping relief at $350,000. This means many businesses will still be taxed on forgiven PPP loans that were used to pay employees and keep their doors open during the most difficult year imaginable.
Education Omnibus – We need to get our students back in the classroom full-time, and start working on the task of helping those students catch up after more than a year of learning loss. At a time when a generation of students have been harmed by forced school closures, we need to put our students first. This bill fails to return students to in-person learning. or make any progress toward closing the achievement gap.
Again, we will see these and other bills passed again in the coming weeks, after negotiations with the Republican Senate. I look forward to seeing final versions of these bills that include more common-sense solutions that I can support.
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