Hello from St. Paul,
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi received a formal request from Minnesota House Republicans this week, urging a Department of Justice investigation into the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse that is taking place within Minnesota’s state agencies.
At minimum, $610 million of your tax dollars have been stolen, and some believe the total is well above $1 billion.
The request follows six years of documented mismanagement and significant losses to fraudsters in human services programs and other state-run programs. All of this has happened under Governor Walz’s tenure, and he has done nothing about it.
House Republicans are committed to addressing the fraud problem in this state and we will be fighting for solutions that hold criminals accountable while implementing measures that stop fraud. To date, there has been no accountability at all to protect your tax revenue, so we are hopeful the DOJ will step in and do the job the governor failed to do.
RETURNING FUTURE BUDGET SURPLUSES TO TAXPAYERS
We’re just a couple of weeks away from receiving Minnesota’s February budget forecast. The findings, whether a surplus or a deficit, will provide a road map as to how to set the state’s budget for the next two years.
If a surplus is there, should it be returned to taxpayers?
Current law allows the Legislature to dictate how surplus funds should be utilized. But after legislative Democrat-leadership and Governor Walz wasted a nearly $20 billion surplus and raised taxes another $10 billion last session, many residents would prefer having their over-collected tax dollars sent back to them.
Legislation moving forward in House committees would grant their wish.
The plan would ask voters whether to amend the Constitution to guarantee future budget surpluses are returned to the taxpayers. If approved, a Minnesota tax relief account would be established. Any projected revenues that go over 5% of projected expenditures according to the last biennial budget forecast will be used to fund the account and those revenues would be returned to the taxpayers via refunds.
Funds deposited in the account would not be taxable under Minnesota law, nor could they be used to offset the cost to the state’s general fund for any tax reductions made by the Legislature. Only income and property taxpayers in Minnesota would be eligible for a refund.
If approved, voters can choose whether to allow lawmakers to allocate any future surplus or remove all debate and have it automatically designated for return to state taxpayers.
Have a good weekend,
Tom