Hello from the State Capitol,
It has been another busy week at the capitol as committees have been working hard to vet bills as they move through the legislative process.
On Wednesday, I had a bill before the Taxes Committee that would help the courts by clarifying the definition of Minnesota citizens in regards to taxation.
For some background on the issue—in 2007 a couple filed tax returns claiming they were part year residents of the state of Minnesota. After review and audit, the Commissioner of Revenue determined they were full-year residents and assessed additional tax and penalties. The couple appealed the decision, and the state’s Tax Court ruled in their favor. In February of this year, the state’s Supreme Court reversed the Tax Court’s decision.
This bill is a vehicle to clarify the statutory residency test.
In HHS committee, we are seeing many bills that update statutes that correct issues with medical programs and how the state insures citizen access and high quality health care. The continued issues with MNsure seem perennial and I strongly feel we need to stop the bleeding of hundreds of millions of money and put MNsure out of our misery.
In other news, a number of bonding proposals have been coming through the committees I serve on. As is usually the case, there are many more proposals than the state has the capacity to bond for. Nevertheless, the bonding bill is always an energetic debate, and I would expect wastewater treatment facilities, along with building repairs on our college campuses to be among the big items in this year’s bill.
Finally, I continued meeting with legislators and stakeholders this week regarding my broadband bill. As you may recall, this is a bill that exempts the sales tax on equipment needed to provide broadband access. By exempting this equipment, we can promote private investment in broadband expansion.
Thanks to the constituents and groups that took time to visit this week. I was visited by building trades folks, college students, teachers, and constituents from People’s Energy Cooperative.
That’s all for this week’s update.
Please make sure to contact me if you have any questions or comments regarding state government. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-9236 or via email at rep.duane.quam@house.mn.
Thank you and have a blessed Easter weekend,
Duane