ST. PAUL – On February 12, the Minnesota House of Representatives gathered to begin the 2024 legislative session. State Representative Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne) expects there will be numerous topics up for discussion in the coming weeks.
“The state budget is set during the first year of the biennium, meaning the second year of the biennium is usually shorter in length,” Schomacker said. “The bigger focus is going to be on the bonding bill and making changes to some of the bills that were introduced and passed last year.”
Last session, taxes legislation was passed dealing with the accrual of inflation on some of the previous losses that businesses and individuals have. This resulted in the unintended consequence of creating a $352 million hole that, if left unfixed, will force 76% of Minnesotans to pay a higher tax bill. Schomacker said the bill was recently approved by the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee, and the fix should be passed into law in the next week or so.
“Some people have been holding onto their returns until that gets fixed, and some others who have already filed may soon have to file an amendment. This is unfortunate, but people should know the fix is on the fast track.”
Schomacker noted that even though it’s not a budget year, lawmakers will have to come to some conclusions on what to do with a projected $2.4 billion budget surplus for the remainder of this legislative cycle, while remembering a $2.3 billion budget deficit awaits in the next budget cycle.
“As we go through this year, there appears to be a lot more hesitation on adopting any spending proposals. We haven’t seen budget targets come through yet for the current surplus, and at this point we don’t even know if there will be any to work through.
While these areas will likely receive most of the headlines this session, Rep. Schomacker encourages residents to contact him on any legislative item. He can be reached at rep.joe.schomacker@house.mn.gov or by phone at 651-296-5505.