Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As I write this on Friday evening, we are in the middle of the Special Session. For those of you who haven't been following all of the nuances of this process, I'll give you a quick reminder of how we got here. But first I wanted to share a really cool moment from the end of the regular session. This picture and the Star Tribune article about how we got all of our members up the many flights of stairs illustrates some of the great people that are hard at work here on your behalf at the Capitol.
Special Session
This is a budget year at the Legislature and we were constitutionally required to adjourn by Monday, May 20th. Because we didn't get the budget bills passed, the government will not have money to fund its operations for the new two-year cycle, called a "biennium", which begins on July 1st. The Governor is the only one who can call a Special Session to finish the work.
The Governor, DFL Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Republican Senate Leader Paul Gazleka agreed to the outlines of a deal on Sunday night, but it was too late to get all of the bills revised to be in line with their deal and redrafted and agreed to by conference committees by the adjournment on the 20th. This led to a highly unusual process of disbanding the conference committees and making the Chairs go before a "leadership tribunal" consisting of the Governor, Speaker Hortman, and Majority Leader Gazelka to present their bills in 15-minute increments. Then this "tribunal" would decide what would stay or be taken out of each bill. Since we are in the minority, the House Republicans were completely shut out of this process. We rarely had representation on any of the Conference Committees and our leadership was not involved in any of the negotiations on the larger deal.
This use of the "tribunal" rather than the conference committees to make the final policy decisions is very troubling. The way the process is supposed to work is that the House and the Senate create policy and finance bills that the Governor either signs or vetoes. Allowing the Governor to participate directly in the "tribunal" essentially gave him line-item veto power over various policy provisions. The Minnesota constitution doesn't give the Governor legislative authority or a line-item veto and this is an egregious ceding of power to the Executive branch by the Legislative branch.
Traditionally, the Governor's office is consulted and provides input in committees through the Commissioners through the legislative process, which is appropriate. But for the Governor to be part of the group literally deciding what stays in and out of bills before they are voted on by the legislature is an abuse of power and a terrible precedent that I hope will not be repeated.
The Governor then called a special session on Thursday night for Friday. The House and Senate finished the state budget just before 7:00 am on Saturday morning and adjourned the special session. I will give a more in-depth update next week but now I need to go get some sleep.
Good News!
No Gas Tax Increase
The good news about the so-called final deal is that Republicans have successfully killed the Governor's proposal to increase the gas tax by 20-cents/gallon! This is a huge win for Minnesota families and businesses who could not afford a 70% increase in the price of gas! We will have to be vigilant, however, as Governor Walz has already said he hopes to "revisit" it next year.
We were also able to stop several other tax increases, including:
- a 50% increase in the motor vehicle registration tax (license tabs), which would have raised $1.1 billion;
- an increase of the motor vehicle sales tax from 6.5% to 6.875%, which would have raised $200 million;
- a half-cent increase in the sales tax in the 7-county metro areas, which would have raised $1 billion.
We also preserved the dedicated fund to roads and bridges from the existing auto parts sales tax, which the Republicans implemented in 2017. This dedicated funding from an existing tax provides $291 million directly to roads and bridges. Overall, the bill provides just over $5 billion for roads and bridges over the next two years without raising any taxes.
No $68 million cuts to nursing homes
Another great success of this session is that we were able to restore $68 million in funding that the House DFL had cut when the bill first passed the House—I voted against it. The Senate restored this funding in the conference committee and the funding stayed in the final version of the bill. Nursing homes are already struggling with low reimbursement rates, so restoring this funding was essential to ensuring our seniors are receiving adequate care.
What I Learned - Capitol Tours!
The Capitol is a state treasure and you and your family can tour it any day of the week! There are free guided tours on the hour every day during the following times:
- Monday-Friday: 9:00 - 4:00 p.m.
- Saturday: 10:00 - 2:00 p.m.
- Sunday: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
In addition to the building, check out the grounds! At the base of the front steps is a long green mall that leads to the Department of Veteran's Affairs. There are several really wonderful sculptures, fountains, and monuments in this area, including a wonderful tribute to our veterans that has some of their letters home inscribed in stone.
The Capitol is a wonderful family outing or a great place to take out-of-town guests! Find out more at www.mnhs.org/capitol
Photos from the Week
A lego version of the Minnesota State Capitol is on display inside the Capitol Building
Rep. Robbins with Rep. Sondra Erickson, her seatmate, on the House Floor during Special Session
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
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