Greetings from the Capitol,
My legislative colleagues and I have been working overtime to ensure state government works as effectively and efficiently as possible for Minnesotans. Legislative leaders came to a budget agreement with the Governor that includes the largest tax relief bill in nearly 20 years and the largest transportation investment in over a decade without asking Minnesotans to pay more in taxes. In total, the Legislature passed seven bills during special session: Taxes, Transportation, State Government, Health & Human Services, K-12 Education, Bonding, and Labor Standards.
Budget Highlights:
The tax bill includes more than $650 million in tax relief for 2018-2019 and $750 million for 2020-2021. The bill is focused on relief for seniors on social security, college graduates with student loan debt, families with childcare expenses, families saving for future higher education expenses, as well as for farmers and our local businesses. The bill also includes a $15 million increase for Local Government Aid and a $25.5 million increase for County Program Aid to help pay for local services in order to keep property taxes in check. The transportation bill invests an additional $300 million in transportation infrastructure over the next two years, as well as $16 million for small cities’ road projects and $25 million to repair or replace 97 bridges.
The K-12 education budget bill invests an additional $1.3 billion towards educating our students. The bill also eliminates the “Last In, First Out” default layoff policy for schools in order to keep the best teachers in the classroom, reforms the broken teacher licensure system to help in hiring more teachers to address Minnesota’s teacher shortage, and further invests in pre-k scholarships and school readiness programs.
During regular session, the legislature passed budget bills for Public Safety, Higher Education, Jobs & Energy Affordability, Agriculture, and Environment & Natural Resources. Altogether, the legislature is sending ten budget bills, a $995 million bonding bill, and a labor standards bill to the governor’s desk for his signature. As bills become law, I will continue to provide updates on provisions within the bills that affect our district, or were provisions that I worked on during this session.
Student Visits:
On Thursday, Sen. Westrom and I visited with 6th graders from Wheaton and West Central at the Capitol.
Staying in Touch:
Please be sure to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government. I can be reached by phone at either 651-296-4929, 701-361-1909, or via email at rep.jeff.backer@house.mn.
Have a great weekend,
