By Rep. Paul Anderson
With the release of spending targets last week by both houses of the Legislature, finance bills are being assembled in their respective committees, with their last stop being the Ways and Means Committee before floor action. The transportation bill is on Tuesday’s schedule for action in the House, along with a bill dealing with road ditch mowing in state right-of-ways. Funding for roads and bridges will come from the general fund and the state’s budget surplus. That, along with bonding dollars, results in a package of $6 billion over the next 10 years. Gov. Dayton is still calling for an increase in the gas tax, currently at 28.5 cents per gallon, so further compromise will be needed before an agreement is reached in this area.
The Agriculture Finance Committee passed its budget bill on Friday of last week. It calls for spending of $118 million over the next two years and, although that’s a lot of money, it represents a pretty small part of the overall state budget, somewhere around .3 of one percent. Spending in agriculture was ramped up two years ago when the state faced a crisis with Avian Influenza, which had a huge effect on our poultry flocks. Funding has been relatively flat since then. One new aspect in the ag budget is a $500,000 appropriation for the University of Minnesota to study issues facing bees and other pollinators. It will focus on research into the best habitat mixes to plant, but will also work on other areas of concern with pollinators.
Much attention is focused on the tax bill currently being worked on. The House version calls for $1.35 billion in tax relief for the citizens of Minnesota. Among its main components is one that exempts income taxes up to a certain level on Social Security income. It also contains language giving farmers a tax break on property taxes levied for school capital referendums. The state-paid credit was 40 percent in last year’s vetoed tax bill, but it’s has been bumped up to 50 percent this year. Also included in the House bill is the elimination of the inflator that automatically increases the statewide business and commercial property tax. In addition, the first $200,000 in valuation of commercial property would be exempt from the tax under the House plan.
Two weeks remain before the Legislature takes its customary Easter and Passover break. Most of the spending bills should see floor action before then, and could even be sent to Gov. Dayton by that time if bills passed by both the House and Senate are identical. If different, conference committees will be established to work on the bills to arrive at compromise language before being re-passed and sent to the governor. With the schedules for moving bills being moved up this year, it’s hoped that floor action can be completed earlier and not have everything come down to the final few days of session. Even if some bills are vetoed by Gov. Dayton, there should be enough time to re-work the bills to get them into a form the governor can sign.
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After a relatively balmy winter, temps so far this spring have remained stubbornly cool. This past weekend was cloudy and gray, with the mercury barely rising into the 40s. We must be patient as warmer temps will soon arrive, allowing spring activities to get underway throughout the area. If our yard is typical, one of the first jobs for many will be to pick up all the branches and tree limbs that have fallen. High winds and freezing rain combined to do a number on many trees over the winter.
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