Above, Daryl Timmerman, Pat Thome and Brad Hennen of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association visited my office in St. Paul this week to talk about a variety of issues related to their industry.
Dear Neighbor,
It’s hard to fathom, but the state is holding $695.4 million in lost and unclaimed funds that belongs to the people.
The property runs the gamut from old paychecks people never cashed to money left in a vacated bank account or unclaimed insurance. It eventually is placed into the state’s Unclaimed Property Account. Quite often, it just sits there. And sits. And sits. And sits.
In recent years, the state passed legislation to help reunite people with this lost and unclaimed property. A House bill (H.F. 587) has been introduced this year to make improvements on reporting and also conducting outreach to let rightful owners know they have unclaimed property.
For now, you can click this link to see if the state has property in your name – and, please, spread the word.
As for the status of some of the bills I am authoring, here is an update:
- H.F. 124 protect citizens from the onerous ditch-mowing regulations proposed by MnDOT. It has been approved by multiple House committees and now is set to come to the floor for a vote of the full body. Click here for a previous news release I issued if you would like to get caught up on this issue.
- H.F. 375 eliminates current state law prohibiting county officials from funding memorials to veterans outside of their respective county seats and would allow counties to support memorials throughout their jurisdiction. It passed the full House and now is in the hands of the Senate.
- HF. 766 provides cities in Greater Minnesota with greater transparency and a voice on excessive state wastewater treatment regulations. It cleared a House committee.
- H.F. 460 directs the 9.2-percent short-term auto lease/rental state tax already being paid toward improving roads in corridors of commerce, an estimated influx of $25 million per year. This bill cleared its first committee stop.
- H.F. 479 provides cities and counties with the same state sales tax exemption townships already enjoy when purchasing road maintenance vehicles. This proposal advanced through its first committee hearing.
Have a good weekend and watch for more news from the Capitol soon.
Sincerely,
Chris