By Rep. Paul Anderson
Sen. Torrey Westrom and I will hold a series of town hall meetings this Friday, March 8. We’ll start the day in Albany with a 9:15 am meeting at the city hall. Next stop is Melrose for a 10:30 meeting at their city hall. Final stop of the morning, scheduled for 11:45 a.m., will be at the city hall in Sauk Centre. Sen. Westrom and I will wind up the day with an afternoon meeting in Glenwood. It will be held at the Pizza Ranch on Minnesota Avenue and starts at 2 p.m.
All are welcome to attend, as we will be discussing the ongoing budget process for the state, in addition to other items of interest.
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As expected, the February budget forecast indicates a slowing economy, with less revenue coming into state coffers in the months ahead. The largest decrease would come from income tax collections, resulting in a drop of nearly $500 million in the state surplus. That still leaves just over $1 billion in the surplus, but looking ahead to the next two-year budget cycle shows a structural deficit of $11 million.
It would seem that this is a time to proceed cautiously with state finances. Increases in spending usually become permanent and quickly use up our one-time surplus funds. And increasing taxes, such as the proposed 70 percent hike in the gas tax, will not contribute to growing the economy and increasing tax collections, which would eventually erase that deficit staring us down the road.
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Several controversial bills made their way through first committee stops last week. Legislation which would grant driving license privileges to undocumented immigrants passed out of the Transportation Committee Thursday night. In addition, two bills addressing gun control were approved in the Public Safety Committee earlier in the week. These bills are DFL initiatives and will probably gain passage in the House. Their fate in the Republican-controlled Senate, however, is far from certain.
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This appears to be the winter that doesn’t want to end. Bitter cold temps and winds combined to make the beginning of March seem more like the middle of January. This weather is also stretching the supply of heating fuel for homes, in addition to making winter diesel fuel hard to come by. When one terminal runs out of product, trucks must travel farther and wait in line longer to load their trailers with propane or number one diesel. Usually, by this time of year, temps are moderating and the demand for these winter necessities begins to soften. Not so this year, as we remain stuck in the mode of well-below normal temperatures and snow events occurring on a regular basis.
Another aspect of the challenging winter was the heavy snow that fell across southern Minnesota last weekend. Twelve inches or more was recorded over a large area. We didn’t receive any new snow in our area, but strong winds made for difficult traveling conditions, anyway. So, you can imagine, getting that much additional snow with those 50-mph winds making travel impossible in many locations. Even heard an unofficial report of a National Guard tank getting stuck. It didn’t take long for reports of collapsed barn roofs to begin coming in. At last count, around 20 dairy barns have been damaged by the extra weight of all that snow. Most were in southern Minnesota, although one reported roof collapse came from the Little Falls area. And cows need to be milked, so at least one dairy made the difficult decision to liquidate its herd. An already financially difficult time for those involved in dairy has been made even more difficult for some because of facilities that no longer allow the operations to continue.
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