Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the House, where the busy start to this session continues and is highlighted by visits from numerous constituents. Stearns County commissioners, local township officials, American Bikers for Awareness, Training, and Education members, ROCORI High School ag. students, and a group with Minnesotans for Health and Parental Rights are among those who recently came to meet with me in my office.
Just a couple of quick factoids I gained while meeting with Minnesota Association of Townships representatives from the area include:
- 22,411 residents of District 13A live in townships (52.6 percent).
- District 13A has 657.8 miles of roads maintained by townships.
Thanks again to everyone who has taken time out of their busy schedules to share their insight with me. Your input helps me continue doing my best to represent the people of our area.
Minnesota Association of Townships
Minnesotans for Health and Parental Rights
American Bikers for Awareness, Training, and Education
Time to eliminate the state tax on Social Security
I am pleased to be co-authoring legislation (HF136) to fully repeal the state tax on Social Security, providing some breathing room for seniors and others at a time soaring prices are leaving all of us with less money at the end of the month.
Minnesota is one of just 12 states that still tax social security benefits, and it is time to change our state’s outlier status. The state has a $17.6 billion state budget surplus so, if not now, when?
A full repeal of the Social Security tax would benefit approximately 473,000 people with an average tax savings of $1,276. In contrast, Gov. Tim Walz’s budget proposal doesn’t fully repeal the Social Security tax, with only 43% of Minnesotans receiving some form of social security relief – on average, $278 per household.
Minnesota’s tax structure is unfriendly to retirees. Reports indicate our state loses vastly more residents each year to other states than we gain domestically. Business and personal finance publisher Kiplinger lists Minnesota among its “not tax-friendly” states for retirees, indicating, “The North Star State offers cold comfort on the tax front to retirees.”
Cold winters certainly play a role in Minnesota’s migration patterns, which is all the more reason to improve our state in areas we actually can control, starting with bipartisan tax relief. Democrats signaled they were all-in for a repeal of the Social Security tax last fall but now and let’s hope they keep their word. More than a month in to the 2023 session, they have left bills related to this subject the back burner.
VP Harris visits St. Cloud
The stop Vice President Kamala Harris made in St. Cloud this week just happens to come at a time when – from tax increases to unaffordable, unreliable and unsafe energy policies – Minnesota continues to adopt policies resembling her home state of California. I participated in a press conference yesterday to share more about this. The focus mainly was on energy/mining in the wake of Gov. Walz recently signing into law the Blackout Bill here in Minnesota and the President Biden administration placing a 20-year moratorium on mining in northern Minnesota. Click here for video of the press conference.
Paid Family Leave
I am hearing a lot of concern from local people over Paid Family Leave legislation that is making its way through the House. This bill (H.F. 2) would create a state-run mandatory paid family and medical leave insurance program. It would provide up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for medical leave and provide up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for family leave. On the surface, elements of this bill may sound good to some, but in total this bill is unaffordable and would increase problems we already are facing regarding worker shortages. I’ll take a closer look at this bill as developments occur but, for now, I want to let people in our district know I am keeping an eye on this bill and oppose it.
Until next time, have a good weekend. Good luck to anglers heading out for Catfish Fest in Richmond this weekend!
Sincerely,
Lisa