Dear Neighbor, Another busy week in the House is wrapping up. Here’s a look at just some of what happened this week: Refunding taxpayers A House Republican bill allowing citizens to decide if a portion of future budget surpluses should be returned to taxpayers came to the House on Monday. The bill (H.F. 4) includes a constitutional amendment question for the 2026 general election ballot. It asks voters to decide whether future budget surplus dollars should be automatically refunded to taxpayers. It’s simple: If the state collects more tax revenue than needed to fund its budget, that money should be returned to taxpayers rather than being used by legislators to expand government. This was clear in 2023 when the state had an $18 billion surplus. Instead of providing meaningful relief, the surplus was used to increase ongoing state spending by 40 percent – a decision that will ultimately place an even greater financial burden on taxpayers in the future. This bill establishes much-needed safeguards for the legislature, which has proven it can’t be trusted to be responsible with our tax dollars. By placing the principle of surplus returns in the Minnesota Constitution, it protects taxpayers from unsustainable increases in state spending while also ensuring greater financial accountability in government. Minnesotans pay more than enough in taxes already. The last thing we need is for legislators to see excess revenue as a license to spend even more. Taxpayers deserve better and this is just one proposal House Republicans have authored to help make our state more affordable. It’s too bad House Democrats stopped this bill on a party-line vote, 67-67. Budget work Our biggest responsibility as a legislature this session is to set a new two-year state budget. That includes, as I have mentioned, erasing a projected shortfall of $6 billion and growing for the next two-year budget cycle. But there’s more than just the bottom line to address because our state is in a structural deficit, with state spending growth expected to exceed revenue growth through 2029. Simply evening out the bottom line isn’t enough. We need to get spending back in line after Democrats in full control of the Capitol increased the state budget by 40 percent in 2023. It is clear Minnesota has a spending problem, not a shortage of tax dollars. Tax increases should be non-starters this session. Let’s keep that in mind as we work to get a new budget in place so we can adjourn on time May 19. Hope you have a nice weekend. Please stay in touch. Sincerely, Jimmy |