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The Minnesota Legislature adjourned this week, wrapping up a two-year cycle that was marked by irresponsible spending, needless tax increases, extreme policies, and broken promises with one party in full control of the Capitol. Here is a rundown of what happened during the last two years in St. Paul:
Taxing and Spending
With a record $18 billion surplus last year, Minnesotans deserve meaningful tax cuts at a time when inflation and rising costs of living have family budgets stretched thin. However, the majority party went on a spending spree, increasing the budget by nearly 40 percent. This is the largest budget increase in Minnesota history and raising taxes by $10 billion in the process.
It has been proven that one-party control is not the right direction for Minnesotans. The final night of session was chaotic as the majority passed a 1,430-page mega omnibus bill without the language being available to House members before a vote took place. The last two years have been marked by the majority party abusing the legislative process and putting power and partisan politics above all else to push a radical agenda on Minnesotans.
We successfully worked this session to resolve numerous problems created with laws enacted in 2023. Most notably, this includes a fix to the tax bill, getting school resource officers back in all the buildings they had been serving, and correcting a net-operating loss issue.
In 2023, we were able to successfully negotiate a $300 million for nursing homes. We were able to provide $30 million for Emergency Ambulance Service Aid which received legislative approval late this year.
While there were some bumps along the way with each of these bipartisan successes, they serve as examples of good work that can be accomplished when partisanship is set aside, and we focus on doing what’s right for Minnesotans. We need more balance at the Capitol to bring more of these positive results.
Several highly controversial, partisan policy measures were enacted under one-party control in the last two years. This includes adopting some of the world’s most extreme abortion policy, enacting a state-funded speech registry that could undermine First Amendment rights, bills that erode our Second Amendment rights, and declaring Minnesota a sanctuary state for transgender healthcare for children. In addition, a Democrat provision ended electronic pull tabs as we knew them, dealing a major blow to local charitable organizations.
Religious freedom was another high-profile issue this session after religious protections against discrimination claims that had been in our state for decades were eliminated. A variation of Republican legislation was enacted into law this session re-establishing protections for religious entities.
The majority party broke several promises they made to Minnesotans this biennium. This includes not delivering full Social Security tax relief and failing to provide $2,000 rebate checks.
Thank you for the continued support and I hope you have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.
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