St. Paul, Minnesota — Wednesday, the Minnesota House passed Jobs & Local Projects and Critical Economic Development legislation with 100 votes and strong bipartisan support. The Minnesota Senate passed the same bill on Thursday. This legislation invests in infrastructure and economic stimulus to help communities bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. It invests $1.879 billion toward public assets such as clean water infrastructure, higher education institutions, roads and bridges, parks, trails, and more. Included in those investments is $30 million for projects in BIPOC communities. A full list of the projects included is available here. It also contains supplemental state budget appropriations and a series of tax provisions.
“I am proud that we came together in a bipartisan fashion to put Minnesotans first. This bill will go a long way towards ensuring we have a strong recovery from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19,” said Rep. Samantha Vang (DFL - Brooklyn Center). “It is also significant that we voted to invest $30 million in our BIPOC communities. As a state it is critical that we make significant investments in achieving racial justice.”
The legislation provides for much needed funding in direct care and treatment programs at the Department of Human Services. It also delivers funding for a temporary pay increase for personal care attendants, and funding to allow the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to test backlogged sexual assault examination kits.
Finally, the bill makes changes to tax policies, including full section 179 conformity to the federal tax code aimed at helping businesses and farmers. It also contains a policy fix for short-term rental properties, flexibility for the Minnesota State High School League’s sales tax proceeds, and an expansion of the homestead property tax exclusion for the spouses of deceased disabled veterans.
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