By Rep. Paul Anderson
The last night of session can sometimes get wild, as members race to finish key legislation before the clock strikes midnight and work must cease.
In my previous years, except for the times when special sessions were to be called at a later date, those dramatic last few minutes have produced results that got the necessary work done. This time however, as members watched TV monitors in disbelief, a last-minute amendment in the Senate offered by a metro area senator threw everything in disarray. That amendment, one which called for an additional $10 million for trains in the metro area, came minutes after the House had already passed the same bill and adjourned for the year. It meant that the amounts of money appropriated for transportation in the House and Senate bills were different, and time had run out before they could be rectified.
The chaotic ending overshadowed a day in which several other major bills were passed, including one that provides millions of dollars in relief to Minnesota taxpayers. Among its features is one that eliminates the state income tax on veterans’ pension benefits. That provision has been discussed for years, and it finally became reality in this tax bill. It also provides a $100,000 exemption in valuation for all commercial properties in the state in relation to the statewide business property tax. That will certainly help our main street businesses cope with the rising cost of taxes in Minnesota. The legislation also moves our tax code into full conformity with annual changes made in federal law, with the exception of Section 179 expensing.
Another feature of the new tax bill, one that could make a big difference in Greater Minnesota, is a provision whereby the state will provide a credit of 40 percent to owners of agricultural land that is assessed for school capital referendums. If signed by Governor Dayton, this would apply to all current and future school capital levy referendums, and residents would see the credit take effect with their May property tax payments next year (2017).
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The bill that has caused all the uncertainty is the one that combined bonding with transportation funding. It provided over $700 million in new money to roads and bridges, but the amendment adding additional funding to rail projects in the metro area throws all that into question. As I write this early Monday morning, it’s not known what will happen next. The Senate was scheduled to go back into session in the afternoon for retirement speeches, but state law prohibits them from passing any legislation on the official last day of session. So they can’t go back and undo what happened last night.
One of the reasons transportation has been difficult to reach consensus on has been this disagreement over funding for transit in the metro. That dispute came to a head on the last night of session and left a huge question mark about what’s ahead. The bill we passed provided additional funding for roads and bridges, but that’s all uncertain now. Either the Legislature comes back in special session at some point if agreement on funding can be reached, or we don’t get bonding and transportation work done this year.
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