Greetings from the Capitol-
The Minnesota House of Representatives has been hard at work hearing policy-related bills the past few weeks in order to meet a Friday, March 22 deadline. This has involved long sessions and late nights in order to accomplish our goal. Policy bills are those bills that do not typically spend government money. The Legislature will be in recess from March 22-April 1 to observe Passover and Easter. When we return on April 2, we will begin work on budget bills for the next two year period of spending for the state of Minnesota.
Gov. Dayton provided Minnesota with his updated budget plans last week. This week, the House DFL proposed their plan. Details and highlights of the DFL plan are listed here:
Proposed House DFL Budget FY14-15
-
The budget proposes general fund spending of $39.3 billion for the next two years, which is a $4.1 billion increase in spending over the current two year cycle that ends on June 30, 2013. The $39.3 billion number does not include any of the proposed fees, surcharges or fund transfers that may be a part of any individual fiscal bill.
-
The budget covers the projected $626.7 million budget deficit.
-
The budget plan calls for the addition of a fourth tier tax rate on individual taxpayers making more than $150,000 or married couples making more than $250,000. This new tax rate would be 9.85%.
-
A fifth tier tax rate is also being proposed to pay off the final payments of the multi-year school funding shift. The remaining balance on the school shift is $800 million, down from $2.7 billion two years ago. As you may recall, current state law requires payment of the school shift to be done with the surplus receipts that the state has been experiencing. Those additional receipts have allowed the state to pay back schools nearly $2 billion in shifted money.
-
The budget will dedicate an additional $700 million in K-12 and Higher Education spending and fully-funds all-day Kindergarten for public schools in Minnesota.
-
Although not general fund spending, the budget plan calls for $800 million in bonding money to fund various state and local infrastructure projects. Repayment of principal and interest on such bonds is, however, a general fund expense.
The Minnesota DFL Senate also released their budget plan which is similar, but does not create a fifth tier income bracket on high earners like the DFL House plan would.
Supporting Veterans’ Issues
I’m happy to be a co-author of HF 1465, the first-ever Omnibus Veterans Bill which has bipartisan support and addresses a wide range of issues to support our men and women who have served. In the past, veterans’ bills have been attached to other legislation but I believe these issues are so important that they deserve their own debate, discussion and consideration by the Legislature. Among other areas, the Veterans Omnibus Bill will focus on: a tax credit for hiring veterans, exempting pension pay for retired vets, revising GI Bill elements, funding Minnesota honor guards, legal protections for Yellow Ribbon Initiative participants, vets license plate provisions, and rehabilitation for vets that serve honorably.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Minnesota House.
Sincerely,
Tim