Dear Neighbor,
The 2022 legislative session started Monday and it is time to get down to business on providing tax relief and the public safety improvements Minnesotans expect and deserve.
The state is swimming in tax revenue with a surplus of $7.7 billion and growing. We are staring at an opportunity to provide permanent tax relief for Minnesotans unlike anything this state has ever seen. People are being slammed by inflation and our businesses have had the deck stacked against them the last couple of years, much of which is linked to restrictions the governor placed upon them.
Our state has an overabundance of revenue and people are struggling. The timing couldn’t be better for providing meaningful, permanent tax relief to lessen their burden. House Republicans already have introduced a number of bills to get this done, including a proposal to eliminate the state tax on Social Security.
Much of the first week was spent in introductory committee meetings. The three committees I continue serving include:
- Climate and Energy Finance and Policy
- Higher Education Finance and Policy
- Local Government Division
Local Government had an interesting first meeting this week. When the boondoggle that is Southwest Light Rail Transit came up, I expressed my strong opposition to this taxpayer money pit that just keeps getting deeper. The governor’s appointees on the Met Council recently approved more than $200 million in funding for cost overruns on the SWLRT … and indicated the rail line will require another $500 million or so in funding. This brings the total cost for this train to $2.75 billion – nearly triple the original estimate sold to taxpayers.
The upshot is we are wasting millions of taxpayer dollars each month and subsidizing each rider to the tune of thousands of dollars. It literally would be cheaper to lease every rider a brand-new car.
Meanwhile, the Northstar train remains a largely vacant vacuum for tax dollars. Between the violence in Minneapolis and increased flexibility to work remotely, it seems more people are happy to stay away from the city these days – or at least are avoiding the train.
I will do my best to keep you in the loop with legislative updates such as this as issues develop throughout the session. The House of Representatives provides some helpful web links that help you follow along from home and I hope you give these a look:
Look for more news from the House soon and, as always, your continued correspondence is welcome.
Sincerely,
Shane