REP. ROBBINS STATEMENT ON NOVEMBER BUDGET FORECAST
MAPLE GROVE, MN—State Representative Kristin Robbin, R-Maple Grove, issued the following statement regarding today's news that Minnesota has a $1.3 billion budget surplus for FY20-21.
“This is great news for our thriving economy in Minnesota but it also means we are taking far too much out of the pocketbooks of Minnesotans. One thing we can do immediately once session begins to lower health care costs is to repeal the sick tax, which adds a 1.8% tax to the cost of most medical procedures.”
As of September 2019, MMB indicated that the state needed just $259 million to fully-fund the state's budget reserve. State law requires up to one-third of the surplus go to the budget reserve until it is fully funded.
Repealing the 1.8 percent provider tax is estimated to cost about $875 million for the remainder of this biennium. Robbins added that the surplus news should eliminate any talk of tax hikes next year at the Capitol.
"We need to take tax hikes off the table and look at giving as much of this surplus back to taxpayers as possible - they earned it and should get to spend it as they see fit."
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