SAINT PAUL, MN—Today, the Minnesota House Republicans passed their omnibus tax bill. The legislation costs $1.35 billion over the biennium. Over four years the bill will spend more than $536 million on tax breaks for business property owners and more than $357 million on an expansion of the estate tax exemption.
Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester) released the following statement:
“The bill passed today is an affront to common sense budgeting. Minnesota doesn’t account for inflation in our budget forecast, so our surplus is based on the idea that costs will be the same every year but revenues will grow. When inflation is factored in, our projected budget surplus drops by more than $1.1 billion. Cutting taxes by $1.3 billion—with more cuts in the future—is not prudent. While there are some very worthy provisions in the bill, I do not think we should be giving tax cuts to large corporations and wealthy individuals.
At the same time, Congress is considering ways to cut federal assistance to many programs and services that Minnesota relies on. Passing enormous, deficit creating tax cuts at a time of such fiscal uncertainty makes this a bill that should not be passed.
Minnesotans expect us to be prudent with the state’s budget and invest in things like education, infrastructure, health, and protecting our environment. My constituents did not send me to Saint Paul to vote for tax breaks that will hurt our ability to maintain the services that make Minnesota strong. ”
Rep. Liebling is the DFL Lead on the House Committee on Health and Human Services Reform. Rep. Liebling can be contacted by email at rep.tina.liebling@house.mn or phone at 651-296-7173.
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