ST. PAUL – In an effort to make life more affordable for Minnesotans, State Representative Greg Davids (R-Preston) is authoring legislation that will provide tax relief and end a number of tax increases implemented by legislative Democrats and Governor Walz last session.
Davids, who is chairman of the powerful Minnesota House Taxes Committee, gave the bill its first hearing on Jan. 22.
“People are struggling financially, and we need to give this bill the urgency it deserves,” Davids said. “It is disappointing that less than half of the House membership has made the choice not to show up for work and debate this bill, but we are moving forward regardless.”
Davids references the Minnesota House Democrat choice to continue their boycott of session after one of their candidates was caught cheating, leading to his resignation and a House Republican majority.
The taxes bill Davids is co-authoring would provide a number of changes to transportation-related taxation. The provisions include suspending the automatic yearly inflation increase for the motor fuel sales tax index and eliminating the retail delivery fee or “Amazon tax” on purchases you had delivered to your home.
Davids said the proposal would also provide Social Security tax relief. Under this provision, every Minnesota senior citizen would no longer be forced to pay income taxes on their Social Security benefits. Minnesota is one of only nine states that still collects taxes from an individual’s Social Security.
In contrast, Governor Walz has recommended raising sales taxes this session on legal, accounting, brokerage and trust services, and some bank service charges for consumers.
“For many, life has become very unaffordable in this state over the past four years,” Davids said. “Its time we used some common sense and let people keep more of what they earn so they can pay for their food, medications, and other day to day needs.”