Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from St. Paul. The House is just wrapping up business for Week 2 in the 2024 legislative session and I want to share some of the latest news and notes:
Helping local taxpayers
Many local taxpayers are likely will see their income-tax returns improve due to legislation the House passed 128-2 Monday in a nice show of bipartisanship.
Last session, the Democrat-led legislature approved comprehensive taxes legislation that reduced standard income tax deductions, leading to tax increases for roughly 76 percent of Minnesotans. Without a correction, the Department of Revenue estimates that an additional $352 million in general fund tax revenue would be raised starting in tax year 2024.
The bottom line is we needed to fix mistakes in the tax bill to help local residents and we got it done. It’s concerning errors occurred in the last tax bill, but it also goes to show the good we can accomplish when legislators focus on doing right by the people we represent. It’s good we took this action before we get into the upcoming tax season so residents of District 11A have clarity and aren’t having to file amended forms.
That said, I am disappointed the bill did not include agreed-upon language that would provide a technical fix to the Net Operating Loss provision. The 2023 Tax Bill contained an effective date of tax year 2023 and simply needs to be corrected to the current year. Democrat chairs in the House and Senate even wrote a letter to state officials saying they would pursue legislation at the earliest possible opportunity to correct this specific problem, but then did not follow through and it could cost some Minnesota taxpayers a combined $15 million. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate.
National FFA Week
This is National Future Farmers of America week. As someone who has worked in livestock, I am a strong supporter of local FFA chapters because they play such a positive role in the development of our youth who represent Minnesota’s ag future. This industry is crucial to our state’s economy and here is just a snapshot of some top-line stats:
- The Minnesota Department of Agriculture indicates our state ranks No. 6 in the nation in agricultural production, with $26 billion in agricultural sales per year.
- Minnesota’s combined agriculture, food processing, and forestry industries contribute over 15 percent of Minnesota’s total economic activities and support over 10 percent of all jobs.
- The overall impacts of Minnesota’s agricultural production, processing, and forestry industries generate nearly $106 billion annually in total economic impacts and support 388,134 jobs.
Precinct caucuses next week
This year’s precinct caucuses will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27. These local meetings provide Minnesotans with the opportunity to participate in grassroots politics. The more people we have involved in this process, the better and I hope you can attend. The Minnesota Secretary of State website has a statewide Caucus Finder page to help citizens find their meeting locations.
Local visitors this week
The greatest highlights of my day are when I get to see the smiling faces of all the wonderful people in District 11A that visit the Capital. This group is among the local visitors I met with this week.
Thank you to Carlton County officials for coming to the Capitol to discuss issues our local governments face.
Nice to visit with Carlton County Minnesota Farmers Union members. The challenges for family farmers are many at this time, but having strong voices from our community helps. Together we must find the solutions that allow our rural communities to thrive.
Anticipating economic forecast
Minnesota’s February economic forecast is set to be issued next week, providing an updated an updated budget picture for our state. It will be interesting to see what the bottom line looks like after Democrats spent the entire $17.5 billion surplus, raised $10 billion in new taxes on Minnesotans and increased state spending by 40 percent last year. The last forecast, in November, projected a deficit for the next biennium, a major turn from just last year.
I’ll likely have more to say about the state budget next time. Please stay in touch and hope you have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
Jeff