ST. PAUL – With only days remaining in the 2021 legislative session, State Representative Bjorn Olson (R-Elmore) said the Minnesota House Democratic majority continues to play political games, and those games are standing in the way of a legislative compromise on a new state budget deal.
“What we’re seeing is a refusal of the House majority to recognize that their dreams of tax increases are not based in reality,” Olson said.
Despite the Minnesota Senate stating it will not accept any tax increase this year, Olson said Minnesota House Democratic leadership refuses to budge from its insistence on billions in tax hikes that would raise taxes and fees on gasoline, license tabs, Main Street businesses, and middle-class Minnesotans.
Olson reminds residents that Minnesota currently has a $1.6 billion budget surplus and billions of dollars more coming from Washington in federal relief.
“It’s very clear the State of Minnesota does not need any more of your money, but the House majority can’t bring itself to admit this,” Olson said. “The longer it takes for them to come to this realization, the less likely it is that we will approve a budget before we are required to adjourn on May 17.”