Raising Taxes & Government Spending
It's Omnibus Budget Bill season at the Capitol and House Democrats have passed almost all of their budget bills without any attempt at compromise. Instead, they have laid out a far left negotiating position before entering into negotiations with the Republican Senate Majority. These first round of bills will not be signed into law as is and will all look vastly different after conference committees—made up of members of the House & Senate—meet to negotiate, and for that I am grateful.
Here are quick summaries of a few of the bills that were debated this past week:
State Government Finance:
"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."
This sums up the almost 12 hours of debate on the State Government Finance bill on Friday and I kick off my closing speech with it as the Republican Lead on State Government. Here are a few other snippets from the long day of debate on this bill.
House File 1952 includes over a billion in spending, an increase of $39.5 million over base and $5.5 million more than the governor’s budget. The bill also includes controversial policy elections policy that lacks any bipartisan support.
While Minnesota families have spent the last year making do with less, elected Democrats in Minnesota refuse to even ask government agencies to tighten their belts, instead putting increases in government spending on auto-pilot.
This bill simply shovels money to bureaucrats and removes important accountability measures put in place by previous legislators to save taxpayer dollars. On top of reckless increase in spending, this bill includes significant changes to election policy without any bipartisan buy-in that has been a requirement of major election policy changes for decades.
Transportation Omnibus:
The Democrat House Majority raises taxes by $1.6 billion over the next four years at a time Minnesota has a surplus of more than $4 billion. These taxes will hit Minnesotans of all income levels at a time when many are still struggling and will make Minnesota a more expensive place to live and drive. This includes a gas tax and light rail tax hike along with increases to tab and other fees. We do not need to raise taxes to take care of one of our most basic functions of government.
Taxes Omnibus:
The Taxes Omnibus bill that raises taxes by more than $1 billion and faced bipartisan opposition with every single Republican voting no. Minnesota has a $4 billion surplus money flowing in from the federal government, we are in a position to help all Minnesotans who have struggled during this pandemic.
Instead, House Democrats are needlessly raising taxes and refusing to eliminate state taxation on forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, moves that will continue to hurt our state’s job creators.
It also creates a new income tax rate and would give Minnesota the 2nd highest income tax rate in the country. We do not operate in a vacuum. Now more than ever, individuals and businesses are mobile and will simply continue to leave if we make Minnesota even more unfriendly.
After what has been an incredible hard year for so many small businesses, these ideas would threaten our economic recovery.
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