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Because of canceled committees from last week’s snowstorm, we had additional hearings, bills, and a very full schedule. The budget forecast used for our budget bills was released earlier this week and still shows a very large surplus. Some of us made a push to actually have hearings on cutting the tax on Social Security. I spoke on the House Floor yesterday about the need to do the work and fix things with legislation, not the easy just throw money at it. That leaves us with addressing the same issues in the near future, but without money.
Budget Forecast
Monday, the Legislature was provided an updated budget forecast, shows that the surplus is still just under $18 billion. This surplus is, comes from taxpayers, and the Republican Caucus is fighting to return the surplus to the taxpayers.
Eliminating the Tax on Social Security
During Monday’s floor session, Leader Demuth made a motion to bring the bill that would end the unfair double tax on Social Security to the floor for a vote. The bill is, and, unsurprisingly, the DFL again refused to end the tax on Social Security. You can see the roll call vote below. A Green vote is a vote to end the tax. I was happy to vote to end the tax on Social Security
I will keep working to end this unfair tax on Minnesotans. With an $18 billion surplus, and billions projected to come in above the inflation adjust future spending, the time is now. You can watch the floor debate here.
 Returning the Surplus
This week I spoke on the House floor on the importance of giving the surplus back to Minnesotans instead of spending it on ‘feel-good’ projects that don’t solve any of the problems facing Minnesota. We can’t keep throwing money at the problem – we need real action. Watch my floor speech here.
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