Dear Neighbor,
Minnesota Management & Budget issued a new economic forecast for Minnesota Monday. It projects a $17.5 billion surplus for the new biennium. The surplus actually would be $19 billion if we’d used the same metrics as the last full forecast, issued in early December, but Democrats factored for inflation on this one which reduced the projection by $1.5 billion.
Either way, it shows the state continues to over-collect from taxpayers at a massive rate, which got me thinking: Why is it that proponents of legalizing sports gambling or recreational marijuana often hail these moves as ways to tap into huge new streams of state revenue? It seems a bit odd to make that case when we clearly have a structural tax imbalance with the state continuing to massively over-collect taxes month after month after month.
If you want to discuss whether it’s a good idea to allow sports gambling and recreational marijuana use in our state, let’s have those talks. But we owe it to ourselves to weigh the pros and cons and societal impacts of the actual subjects at hand without making this about tax revenue when the state already is confiscating far more than it needs. Otherwise, where does it stop? Think about all the tax dollars we could get from legalizing prostitution, etc.
Back to the main point: Our top priorities this session should start with returning these dollars to taxpayers, especially by completely ending the state tax on Social Security. Just hours after receiving the updated economic forecast, House Republicans moved to fast-track legislation fully eliminating the state tax on Social Security but House Democrats voted down that effort.
And, yes, we also need to make structural changes ensuring extreme over-collections of tax dollars don’t happen again. It is completely out of line for our state to have taken almost $18 billion more from taxpayers than it needs according to the current budget.
It concerns me the governor and members of the legislative majority may see this surplus as a license to spend more and dramatically increase our state’s already unsustainable spending trajectory. We need to be going the other direction by actually becoming better stewards of these tax dollars and getting a handle on state spending.
We’ll see what unfolds with the new $17.5 billion surplus figure serving as the official framework for the Legislature to set a new two-year state budget this session before adjourning in late May.
Republican “Give It Back” tax plan
I mentioned tax relief should be a top priority for this session. Here is more on that: House and Senate Republicans conducted a press conference this week to unveil our “Give It Back” tax plan, which provides $13 billion over two years in permanent tax cuts and one-time rebates.
The package features tax relief benefiting Minnesotans both now and in the long-term, including:
- Lower first and second tier rates
- Full elimination of Social Security tax
- $1,800 tax credit per child
- Property tax relief
- $5 billion in rebates
These permanent tax cuts and one-time rebates are not only sustainable and worthy of bipartisan support, but they simply are also the right things to do for Minnesotans.
I’ll be back with more from the House soon. People are sharing some strong thoughts against House Democrat bills that would prohibit the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment and ban the sale of water in plastic bottles, so maybe we can take a closer look at those bad ideas next time.
Until then, have a good weekend and let me know how I can help.
Sincerely,
Shane