Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the Capitol, where another week in the 2022 session is coming to a close and much of the focus remains on bringing bills into the committee process and conducting hearings.
Meanwhile, back at home, many people are looking forward to the third annual Leech Lake Frostfest this Saturday in Walker. There will be activities throughout the afternoon, including snow golf, live music, craft beer, a homebrew competition and local food. All ages are welcome with numerous activities and games will be available to children.
Events such as this are crucial for our local economies and I continue working closely with this subject as one of two House members currently serving on the Minnesota Tourism Council. I currently am a co-author of H.F. 3616, a bipartisan bill which provides $6 million for a tourism industry recovery grant program.
The grant program must provide money to organizations and communities to accelerate the recovery of the state’s tourism industry. These dolalrs may be used to support meetings, conventions and group business, multi-community and high-visibility events, and tourism marketing. Of this amount, Explore Minnesota Tourism must not retain any portion for administrative costs.
This is a one-time appropriation largely designed to help our businesses get back on track after the setbacks they have experienced during the pandemic. Tourism is a huge component in our region’s local economy and this bill would be helpful to numerous local businesses.
In other news from the Capitol, one of the next big things on people’s radar is the scheduled release of our state’s February economic forecast on Monday. The November forecast was the last complete report we received, and it showed a $7.7 billion surplus. Revenue reportedly also has exceeded previous projections in the months since November, so it will be interesting to see what the upcoming report reveals.
The only question with the new surplus total should be how much permanent tax relief we can squeeze from it. We can start by eliminating the state tax on Social Security and go from there. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on this subject after the new forecast is released, so stay tuned.
Before we close, I want to quickly note this is National Future Farmers of America Week. Thank you to all the students who are involved in this program. You are the next generation of workers that will keep our state and nation fed and your interest in agriculture at a young age is commendable. Thank you as well to the teachers who educate and mentor FFA students to keep ag. strong in our state.
Until next time, have a good weekend and stay warm if you are out and about at Frostfest.
Sincerely,
Matt