Dear Neighbors,
The 2022 legislative session came to an end on Monday. Last year, we passed a budget to fund state government, so this year would be traditionally focused on policy, perhaps some supplemental spending, and often an opportunity to do capital investments through a “bonding bill”.
My main concern this year was to return the historic budget surplus to you through permanent, meaningful tax relief and addressing the public safety crisis impacting Minnesota communities.
Earlier this month, Gov. Walz, Senate Republican leadership, and House Democrat leadership announced an agreed upon supplemental budget framework. The framework included $4 billion in new spending, a $4 billion tax bill, and another $4 billion left on the bottom line.
This agreement was a bad deal for Minnesotans because it essentially exchanged massive growth in permanent government spending for short term tax relief.
HOLDING THE LINE ON SPENDING
State government is fully funded through next year and received nearly $80 billion in federal COVID relief dollars during the course of the pandemic. Because of this, there was no reason for Democrats to hold tax relief hostage in exchange for huge, permanent spending increases that would expand and create new programs.
Nevertheless, that is exactly what they did.
Returning the budget surplus through tax relief did not happen because of their unquenchable thirst for bigger and bigger government. Watch this short video on my official Facebook page where I discuss the end of session. With your help, our behind-the-scenes work held the line on spending.
Failing to provide tax relief is a significant missed opportunity at a time when inflation is at 40-year highs, gas prices are nearing $5/gallon, and goods and services continue to cost more. You deserve more money in your pocket, Minnesotans deserve as much tax relief as possible, and it shouldn’t be held hostage for billions in government spending.
I was also disappointed that we could not come to agreement on ways to improve safety and security in our communities. Unfortunately, Democrats were unable to stand up to the “defund the police” wing of their party, and insisted on funding unproven and unaccountable non-profit groups instead of putting more money into our local police departments.
Looking forward, I am committed to working next session to deliver record-breaking tax reform with the state’s budget surplus, and make public safety a top priority by investing in law enforcement and doing more to hold criminals accountable. We must make our communities safer.
I appreciate your trust and support to represent our commonsense values. I remain committed to advocating for you to make our state stronger and better by protecting our families, our freedoms, and our futures.
Jon Koznick
State Representative