By Rep. Lisa Demuth
We began the 2022 legislative session on the last day of January with high hopes, a historic surplus, tax relief in mind and much room for improvement to make our state a safer place to live and visit.
Fast-forward nearly three months and those things all remain true, even if the window to these achievements is shrinking by the day. The Legislature is not set to adjourn until late May and, for better or worse, it often is the 11th hour when headway is gained on resolving major headline issues.
In this year’s case, much of our late-session work centers on the state’s surplus of around $10 billion. We should note the state is fully funded for the biennium, so there is no threat of a state shutdown if an agreement is not in place prior to adjournment. With that in mind, there are stark differences between how the House and Senate majorities propose appropriating the surplus dollars.
Senate Republicans recently passed the largest tax cut in state history, at more than $8 billion. This accounts for most of the budget surplus and includes eliminating the state’s Social Security income tax and reducing income taxes. House Democrats, on the other hand, propose $21 in new government spending for every $1 in tax cuts. Overall, their proposal is for $12.2 billion in new government spending, a 14 percent state spending increase.
Aside from the top-line numbers, there are notable omissions from the House majority’s supplemental budget proposal. First, there are concerns about a lack of long-term care funding in the health and human services section. Our nursing homes and long-term care industry in general were under serious duress even pre-pandemic and we need to make sure they are able to meet crucial needs for the people they serve.
Also, the House budget provides no funding to repay the deficit in Minnesota’s unemployment insurance trust fund and reverse the recent tax hikes that Minnesota employers are needlessly suffering. The good news is this issue was at least partially addressed this week when the House brought Senate language to the floor that passed that body with overwhelming bipartisan support two months ago.
Except, instead of passing that clean Senate bill, the House majority added more than $1 billion in additional spending in other areas. This complicates matters on what should be a straight-forward bill to pass and now a conference committee has serious work to do before this legislation can receive final approval. Meantime, each day we fail to enact this legislation continues costing Minnesotans another $50,000 in interest.
Public safety is another area where we can ill-afford inaction this session. Violent crime has been historically high in our state and House Republicans put forth a package of “Safety in our Cities” bills earlier this session. Our three-pronged approach aimed at holding criminals responsible for their actions, helping recruit and retain peace officers, and providing transparency on prosecution and sentencing decisions.
Unfortunately, House Democrats continue to do little more than provide lip service to this subject. The majority made a big splash in the media over bills they authored, including for stronger penalties for carjacking, house arrest for youth auto theft offenders, and grant programs aimed at recruiting police officers. But, in reality, those Democrat public safety proposals have been completely ignored by the committee on public safety they control, left to shrivel on the vine. Furthermore, Democrat-backed proposals that failed to receive hearings recently were brought forward as amendments by House Republicans, only to have House Democrats vote down their own language.
The Legislature’s deliberate pace sometimes can make it seem as though progress is out of reach at the Capitol, but we still have time to deliver on these issues and more. We are in session until May 23 and my hope is we will accomplish positive results on the session’s most pressing issues.
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