Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Hope everyone is enjoying this great spring weather and maybe hitting the driving range or a Twins game this weekend. Here's my weekly update from the Capitol. Have a great weekend!
Daycare Fraud Response
Minnesotans deserve to know the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year on public programs are being spent wisely. The public has lost trust that these programs are free from fraud and abuse. This week I joined my colleagues in introducing a set of bills that will reform the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and ensure that future investigations are free from political pressure by moving the Inspector General out of the Dept. of Human Services (DHS). I hope Governor Walz and the DFL Majority will join us in implementing these common-sense proposals to ensure that taxpayers' money is being spent on the purposes for which it is intended and begin to regain the public's trust. The legislative package is in response to a report from the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor that found fraud within Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program to be widespread and pervasive. The House proposal has five key goals:
- Increased consequences for committing fraud: Increased penalties and consequences for committing fraud to send a strong message to fraudsters that the state will not tolerate this criminal behavior.
- Provider controls: Provide better controls on the front end to prevent fraud from occurring in the first place.
- Investigations and prosecutions: Give additional tools to investigators to aid in their investigations, and to prosecutors to ensure fraudsters are brought to justice.
- Eligibility reforms: Eliminate eligibility for those found to have committed fraud, require enhanced eligibility checks from the Department of Human Services, and direct savings from eligibility checks to the Health Care Access Fund.
- Oversight: Make the Office of Inspector General become an independent entity as recommended by the legislative auditor.
This package will help stop the fraud, save the money and make sure our tax dollars are used as intended.
Rep. Robbins and her fellow co-authors presented their bill to combat fraud
in Minnesota's public programs to the press on Monday
Republican Senate Budget
It can be done! This week the Senate Republicans introduced their own budget as they prepare for negotiations with Gov. Walz. In contrast to the Walz budget, which grew government by 8% and raised nearly $1 billion in new taxes, including a 20-cent increase in the gas tax, the Senate Republican budget didn't raise a dime of new taxes and proposed only a modest increase in spending over the next two years.
R&D Tax Credit Bill in Committee
This week I presented my bill for an alternative and simplified Research & Development (R&D) tax credit to the Tax Committee. This bill, which brings Minnesota's tax code in line with the federal R&D tax credit, will make it easier for businesses to use the credit. The current system requires companies and individuals to look back to their level of R&D spending from 1984-1988 in order to claim the credit. Many businesses either don't have those records, or the time and cost involved in documenting R&D from 30+ years ago are prohibiting them from using it.
The credit only applies to new R&D spending above what they have spent in the previous three years and only applies to research done in Minnesota. This bill provides incentives for high-tech, high-wage research to be conducted in Minnesota and will ensure we continue to be a leader in innovation and advanced technologies needed to compete in the global economy.
No Action on Tax Conformity
Speaking of taxes, many Minnesota families are busy working on their 2018 taxes, which are due on April 15th. Unfortunately, the DFL House has not passed any bills on "tax conformity" - aligning the MN tax code to the federal "Trump tax cuts" passed by Congress in 2017. Last year's Republican-controlled legislature had passed "tax conformity" with the new federal tax cuts so Minnesotans could fully take advantage of the federal changes, but that bill was vetoed by then-Governor Dayton.
Despite promises to address tax conformity right away, the DFL has refused to move bills that would have addressed this - increasing the time, frustration, and cost of getting our taxes done! I coauthored HF 52 back in February to address this problem, but it has not even had a hearing.
In addition to increased time and costs for individual families, this delay is also a significant drag on our economy. I've spoken to many frustrated families and business owners who have told me that, because they didn't know what their state tax liability would be without conformity, they had to set aside a significant amount of money to ensure they would have enough to cover their taxes. This is money that they were not spending on spring break, new household purchases or investing in their business to expand or raise wages. We don't want to have people keeping money on the sidelines another year. The DFL should stop playing politics by holding the tax conformity bill up as a bargaining chip for the end of the session and pass it as a free-standing bill now. The earlier we get it passed, the more time tax preparers and the Dept. of Revenue will have to make the software changes necessary to get the tax systems aligned for next year's filing season.
Things to Know
Since I seem to be on a "tax theme" this week, I wanted to let you know that there is free help with tax preparation available for many people!
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and AARP Tax-Aide programs help prepare federal and state income tax and property tax refund returns. There are over 200 free tax preparation sites available across Minnesota. You may qualify for free tax preparation for your returns if:
- You are age 60 or older.
- You are a person with a disability.
- You speak limited or no English.
- Your annual income is less than $55,000.
To find out more, check out this page from the MN Dept. of Revenue.
Photos from the Week
A few photos from some of the constituent meetings I had this week! Meeting with people from our district is always the highlight of my week!
Rep. Robbins with former Rep. Joyce Peppins and her daughter who served as a House Page this week
Newly sworn-in Rep. Nathan Nelson with his children this week
Please Contact Me
Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any legislation put before the House or any other matters to which I can be of assistance. You can set up a time to visit me at the Capitol by calling me at 651-296-7806 or by email at rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn. My office is located on the second floor of the State Office Building in room 225.
I hope you all have a fun weekend!
Kristin