Democrats started to unveil their various budget bills by subject area this week. We knew this was coming, but they are loaded with tax increases – even more than we expected.
By now I am sure you know that we have a massive, historic-level budget surplus – $19 billion before factoring for inflation. We have already significantly overtaxed Minnesotans. The idea of taking any more from them is cruel, especially with inflation squeezing so many family budgets.
We should be looking for every possible way to return the surplus to taxpayers. We shouldn’t be taking even more from them.
Yet, that’s what Democrats are doing.
The Transportation budget is a prime example: It has more than $2 billion in tax increases. It will be more expensive when you buy your license tabs. It will be more expensive any time you purchase a vehicle. It will be more expensive every time you order from Amazon, from Walmart, from Doordash, or any time you take a Lyft or Uber.
It’s absurd.
Senate Democrat Environment budget proposal is bad for Minnesota families and bad for small businesses
As the lead Republican on the Senate Environment Committee, I am paying especially close attention to environmental issues. This week the committee discussed this year’s environment budget that Democrats put together, and there are a lot of really bad ideas in there.
If this bill becomes law, it will be really bad for farmers, really bad for small businesses, and really bad for Minnesotans. Here is a quick rundown of what is in it:
* It contains a boatload of new rules and regulations that will crush small businesses.
* It has regulations related to PFAS that will restrict the sale of countless everyday items, from carpets and rugs, to cookware, floss, fabric treatments, cosmetics, solar panels, and much more. Medical groups hate these regulations too because they will affect life-changing medical equipment.
* The bill contains ridiculous new regulations on boaters and watercraft rental businesses, including resorts. For example, if you were born after 1987 you’ll have to take a watercraft permit test.
* There are enough regulations in here to effectively put deer farms out of business.
I’ll keep you updated as this bill and other budget bills move through the process, but the general theme is this stuff is really bad for regular, working Minnesotans.
