Hello from the State Capitol,
Budget bills continued to arrive for debate on the House floor this week, and I am hopeful those few that remain outstanding will receive approval early next week.
The Senate is going through a similar process. When both bodies have approved legislation that is not identical, it is sent to a conference committee where an equal number of representatives and senators are tasked with creating compromise legislation that can be approved in both the House and Senate. Once that happens, the bill is sent to the governor for his signature.
I made a promise last fall to do everything I can to lower taxes and spending in Minnesota. I am keeping that promise by voting for budget bills that actually begin to right size government spending, and voting against bills that lock in prior spending increases or increase spending.
The reason for this is very simple. Last session legislative Democrats and Governor Walz wasted an $18 billion surplus and raised your taxes by an additional $10 billion. Thanks to these decisions, we now face a $6 billion deficit just two years later. They grew government by nearly 40% in the last budget, which means government is doing just fine with its 6,000 new employees and the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on their new salaries. I’m trying to prioritize taxpayers with my votes and address what will likely be a record-breaking deficit in our next budget cycle.
HOUSE TAX BILL CURBS SPENDING, BLOCKS NEW TAX INCREASES
One of these proposals will be our House taxes legislation, which rejected every tax hike Democrats proposed this session and begins to address that $6 billion shortfall.
The taxes bill would reduce state spending by $40 million in the 2026–2027 budget cycle and by another $40 million in the 2028–2029 budget cycle.
In addition to stopping tax increases, the bill includes several taxpayer-friendly provisions. It raises the market value exclusion for homesteads owned by disabled veterans, expands the property tax deferral program for senior homeowners, and establishes a sales tax collection credit for small and mid-sized retailers—allowing them to retain a portion of the sales tax they collect.
LOCAL VISITORS
It was good to see former State Representative Denny McNamara at the State Capitol with his grandson this week.
To all of our mothers, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. Enjoy your weekend!
Tom