ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Legislature adjourned Monday, putting a bow on a two-year cycle Rep. Ben Davis, R-Mission Township. said was marked by reckless spending, needless tax increases, extreme policies and broken promises with Democrats in full control of the Capitol.
With the record $18 billion surplus last year, Davis said Minnesotans deserved meaningful tax cuts at a time when in?ation and rising costs of living have family budgets stretched thin. Instead, he said House Democrats went on a spending spree, increasing the budget by 40% – the largest budget increase in Minnesota history – and raising taxes by $10 billion in the process.
When the 2024 session began, Davis said it was more of the same, including raising the cost of a new worker leave program by half a billion dollars before it even begins, and many other unpopular and unnecessary tax and fee increases on Minnesotans.
Along the way, Minnesota taxpayers were put on the hook for a $730 million State Office Building remodel despite Republicans proposing more reasonably priced alternatives.
“The thin majority at the Capitol has used its full control to cater to the radical extreme instead of serving the best interests of all Minnesotans,” Davis said. “We desperately need more balance at the Capitol before the far-left extremists do any more damage.”
The 2024 session began with Republicans working to correct problems created by laws passed in 2023. Most notably, Davis said this includes a fix to the tax bill, getting school resource officers back in all the buildings they had been serving, and correcting a net-operating loss issue. Legislation Republicans championed to provide an additional $30 million for Emergency Ambulance Service Aid also received legislative approval.
Legislation Davis personally authored to reimburse local law enforcement for performing ice rescues received final approval this session, standing as a bipartisan achievement.
"It was an absolute honor working with our local sheriffs to get them some much needed reimbursement funds for unsafe ice rescues,” Davis said. “They put their lives at risk in so many ways and this bill was one way I was able to properly recognize their efforts.”
Davis indicated Democrats enacted several highly controversial, partisan policy measures with one party in control the last two years. He said this includes adopting some of the world’s most extreme abortion policy, enacting a state-funded speech registry that could undermine First Amendment rights, passing anti-gun bills, and declaring Minnesota a sanctuary state for transgender healthcare – for children.
“The attacks on our civil and religious liberties along with our right to bear arms needs to end,” Davis said. “I will continue being a voice of truth for our district to expose these attacks so we can get our state back on the right path.”
Religious freedom was another high-profile issue this session after Democrats last year eliminated religious protections against discrimination claims that had been in our state for decades. A variation of Republican legislation was enacted into law this session re-establishing protections for religious entities.
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