Dear neighbor,
The legislative session is coming to a close and the tentacles of Democrat legislators are out and reaching to extract the hard-earned dollars out of your wallet! Last night, House and Senate DFL leadership along with Governor Dayton announced a deal on taxes that would impose $2 billion in higher taxes on income, cigarettes, and business-to-business purchases. If this tax deal passes, Minnesota would have the fourth highest tax rate in the nation! I can assure you that four will be the loneliest number for Minnesota. We still don’t have the finalized version of this bill because Democrats are more focused on divisive social issues, constitutional amendments on legislator pay, and unionizing small business owners.
Another bill we’re waiting on is the transportation finance conference committee bill. The Senate conferees keep pushing for a gas tax. Have you seen gas prices in the last few days?! With gas over $4 a gallon, who can afford paying more to drive?
Tomorrow, the House is scheduled to take up the legislation that would unionize childcare providers. As many of you know, this issue is personal to me. As a former childcare provider, I know firsthand the joys and challenges of caring for young kids during the day. Hard-working parents deserve to know that their childcare provider isn’t forced to have split loyalties between them and union bosses. Imposing a layer of union bureaucracy interferes with the relationship of trust that’s necessary between parents and childcare providers. Furthermore, taking money away children of hard-working low-income parents for union dues is wrong. Young children do not deserve to be caught up in a political power grab to benefit union leadership and their political activities.
The legislative session is scheduled to end Monday before midnight. Given the fact that DFL legislative leadership has several budget bills and the tax bill to pass – not to mention wasting time trying to unionize childcare providers – I’m curious to see if we’ll get done on time. It’s hard to be away from my community and my kids for so long. I can’t wait to come home next week and give my kids a big hug. I miss them a lot when I’m in St. Paul. Let’s hope we get done on time.
I am always interested in your feedback. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at Rep.Mary.Franson@House.MN or contact my office at 651-296-3201. You can also send mail to my office address: 211 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Sincerely,
Mary