Legislative Update
 Dear neighbors,
This week, we officially hit the halfway mark as we work toward adjournment sine die on May 17th—but don’t expect things to slow down anytime soon.
Affordability remains front and center as we head into the second half of session, and I’m proud to say we’ve made some strong progress this week.
Let’s get into it!
Tabs Increase, Value Decreases—Welcome to Minnesota
 A few weeks ago, we heard a truly jaw-dropping remark from a first-term DFL legislator, suggesting that at some point she may offer an amendment to quintuple the price of car tab fees. Whether it was meant as a joke or not, I don’t think many Minnesotans found it funny at all.
In fact, we’ve been hearing from constituents all across the state who are already frustrated with how much their tab fees have skyrocketed over the past year. In a story from WCCO this week, one Minnesotan stated: “We paid the tab on it for the first time and the next year it was more expensive. The car depreciates, but the tax goes up? Really? Is that how that’s supposed to work? I don’t think so.”
He's exactly right.
The reality is Minnesota is facing an affordability crisis—frankly, the entire country is. But it’s our job as legislators to make sure Minnesota remains a place where folks can raise their families, work, and most importantly afford to live here, and I wish Democrats would snap out of this delusion that raising taxes across the board is at all a logical solution.
I’m grateful to my colleague Patti Anderson for taking those remarks seriously—and more importantly, for taking Minnesotans seriously. On Wednesday, she introduced legislation to bring tab fees back to pre-trifecta levels.
During the Democrat trifecta, higher tab fees were included as part of over $10 billion in new taxes on Minnesota families. Changes to the formula increased fees by roughly 20%, leaving drivers paying more just to stay on the road. At the same time, Minnesota’s tab fees now far exceed those in neighboring states like Wisconsin and North Dakota, who have a flat rate fee of around $85.
Rep. Anderson’s bill would reverse those increases and return rates to where they were—delivering nearly $1 billion in relief to Minnesota drivers. This is the real relief Minnesotans are calling on us legislators to deliver, I just hope my DFL colleagues will come to the realization sooner rather than later.
Clearing the Confusion, Backing Our Corrections Workforce
 I was pleased to introduce House File 4139, a bill aimed at bringing much-needed clarity to how benefits are handled for community corrections employees.
Right now, when counties transition into the Community Corrections Act (CCA), there’s confusion around who is responsible for paying accrued or earned employee benefits that were earned under state service. That uncertainty negatively impacts people who have dedicated their careers to public safety.
House File 4139 helps fix that.
This bill clarifies who is responsible for paying accrued benefits depending on whether the employee served under the state or the county, ensuring employees are treated fairly while also protecting counties from being stuck with costs they didn’t create. It also provides targeted reimbursement funding to help counties cover certain transition-related benefit costs and requires a report back to the legislature so we can continue improving the process.
At the end of the day, this bill is about doing right by the people who serve our communities while bringing more clarity, accountability, and common sense to the system.
Because when it comes to public safety, we owe it to both our workforce and taxpayers to get this one right.
Warming Up and Staying Connected
As we head into the second half of session, I hope you’ll continue to reach out with any questions, concerns, or priorities you may have. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to the work I do here at the Capitol—and I truly couldn’t do it without you.
As we head into the weekend, enjoy the warmer temperatures, we all know how rare and appreciated that can be this time of year!
Sincerely,
—Representative Paul Novotny
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