Dear Neighbor,
We’ve reached the point in the legislative session where committee work has wrapped up and the majority of our time is being spent on the House Floor debating legislation. Over the past week Republicans have brought forward their major finance bills regarding transportation, jobs and energy, environment, state government, and E-12 education.
The common theme with all of these bills: a lack of significant investments accompanied by major cuts and budget gimmicks.
With a $2 billion surplus, these misplaced priorities, cuts and budget tricks all have their roots in the tax bill that Republican leadership in the House has proposed.
Tax Bill
The tax bill that’s moving through the House contains $2 billion in tax cuts targeted at the super wealthy, instead of benefitting average Minnesotans. Republicans are talking loudly about the “middle-class tax cuts” found in their bill, but they only total about $70 a year for a single filer making $70,000. It’s a tax cut that lacks any significant impact, and even worse, it’s a temporary cut that disappears in two years.
The centerpiece of the Republican tax cut package is a gift to big businesses. Their tax bill gives corporations and businesses a permanent $5 billion tax cut over the next eight years. Owners of skyscrapers in Minneapolis and businesses like Wal-Mart and Home Depot are the biggest benefactors from this tax bill. If this Republican plan goes into effect, it will cost our state now and in the future. The tax bill will be taken up today on the House floor.
E-12 Education Finance
The House debated the E-12 education finance bill on Saturday. It does not keep pace with the rate of inflation. Not only does it waste a golden opportunity to support Minnesota’s children, it actually moves us backwards by forcing local school districts around the state to cut teachers and staff, increase class sizes, and decrease access to early childhood education. I opposed the bill because it would harm our students and school districts and will result in teacher layoffs and increased class sizes.
Transportation
The omnibus transportation finance bill fails to address urgent rail crossing improvements, like the Hanson Boulevard crossing in Coon Rapids, which was one reason I couldn’t support the bill.
There are 21,000 Coon Rapids residents that would be affected by an oil train explosion. These trains already hinder the ability of emergency responders to do their job. The Governor recognized this as an urgent problem when he visited the site, and that’s why he added it his list of bonding proposals. The $5 million for rail crossings in the Republican transportation budget wouldn’t even cover one sixth of the cost of the Hanson bridge project ($34 million).
Jobs and Energy
The House passed the omnibus jobs and energy bill reversing decades of progress made on job creation, economic development, workforce housing, and clean and renewable energy.
The bill will slash job creation programs, shutter offices used to promote Minnesota’s foreign trade, reduce job retraining funds, cuts programs that help reduce homelessness, eliminate funding to protect seniors from scams, cut the wages of tipped employees, raid the unemployment insurance fund, and stop the repayment of loans we were forced to take out under Governor Pawlenty.
In addition, the jobs and energy bill guts clean and renewable energy standards. It paves the way for more coal fired power plants in Minnesota, and removes net metering rules which encourage homeowners and farmers to invest in clean energy.
Environment and State Government
The environment and state government bills passed the House. Both continue drastic cuts to vital areas of state government. The environment bill shifts nearly $60 million out of the fund we use to clean up closed landfills, takes money from the school trust lands, and gives up on fighting aquatic invasive species by cutting millions from prevention efforts.
The state government bill underfunds veterans homes and underfunds our commitment to Minnesota retirees. It also opens the flood gates to unregulated increases in toxic campaign spending.
I will provide another update soon with a rundown of the bills debated on the House floor this week.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Jerry Newton
State Representative