By Rep. Paul Anderson
The 2022 session of the Legislature opened this week, with the House of Representatives meeting virtually while the Senate is using a more hybrid-type format. The building where House members' offices are located, the State Office Building, is closed to the public, while the Capitol itself is open. All committee meetings of the House will be virtual, with the hope that if pandemic numbers begin to subside, restrictions will be loosened.
The topic on everyone's mind is the surplus, projected in November at $7.7 billion, but even higher now with additional revenues added the past few months. It's probably well north of $8 billion now. And the burning question becomes one of what to do with all this extra money.
To clarify, the surplus is the amount expected to be remaining at the end of the two-year budget cycle on June 30, 2023. Much can happen between now and then, but based on current predictions, that's what should be left in state coffers 18 months from now if no changes in spending or revenue are made.
For the most part, Republicans feel the money should be returned to the people, mainly through tax credits and revisions to our tax code. There may be some additional expenditures, such as returning the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to solvency from its current $1 billion deficit. But, for the most part, in some form, return the excess money.
The DFL, on the other hand, has a different idea. Gov. Tim Walz released his supplemental budget request last week and, under his plan, most of the surplus would be spent. I'm not saying they aren't worthy requests, but this is not a budget year. An encouraging note is that there does seem to be bipartisan agreement on the issue of replenishing the unemployment trust fund.
One of the things we need to be careful of is using this one-time surplus windfall to fund programs that become permanent. If that happens, they become part of the base budget and would continue forward even after the surplus is used up. An example is the governor's request for an additional increase to the school funding formula. The budget passed last year already gave schools an additional 4.5 percent in state funding. The governor is asking for another 2.5 percent on top of that which, if approved, would become part of the base appropriation when the next two-year budget is worked on.
I've been in the Legislature long enough to have served during times of deficit and surplus. Both are challenging, with expectations totally different depending on which situation we are facing. That's human nature and totally to be expected. The Legislature and the governor need to look at the long-range picture and determine what's best, not only when there is extra revenue but also when times are more lean, which will surely happen again sometime in the future.
Other issues in the spotlight this session will be public safety and law enforcement. Some see the need for additional police, while others want to see different methods explored. We need to be careful when making changes in this area, because an idea thought to be necessary in the metro may not work or even be needed here in Greater Minnesota.
There will be work done in the area of cleaner fuels, including E-15 gasoline and a low carbon fuel standard. There needs to be work done to increase the availability of workers for jobs waiting to be filled. Related to that is the lack of childcare that keeps some parents home and out of the work force because they can't find places for their young children.
Our state and nation are also faced with supply-chain issues. One of the causes is a lack of truck drivers to move goods to where they are needed. The situation's not going to get any better because next Monday, Feb. 7, new rules take effect that relate to obtaining CDL drivers licenses. The federal government on that day will be implementing a new entry-level driver training requirement that could cost prospective new drivers an estimated $4,000-$5,000 dollars to complete. Don't think that's going to entice a lot of new drivers into that line of work.
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