On Tuesday, May 2, Senate Democrats passed a tax bill that raises taxes by $1.2 billion through a new controversial worldwide tax, which has not been implemented in any other state. This legislation fails to deliver meaningful tax relief and does not provide for the full repeal of the social security income tax. In fact, a Democrat-offered amendment to repeal the tax on Social Security included a tax increase that was so extreme, even Democrats did not have the votes to pass it.   

 

The tax bill includes a very controversial tax known as “worldwide” or “global” reporting. This means that any business with a presence in Minnesota will be forced to report all income, even that from outside Minnesota in a way that no other state in the country or the world requires. This risky move will affect businesses based inside and outside of the state and will likely force them to reconsider how much they are willing to invest to do business in Minnesota.  

 

During the floor debate, Senate Republicans attempted to offer a number of amendments, which were either struck down or ruled out of order. Among them:

 

• Create a permanent and automatic refund program to ensure taxpayers are first in line when there is a government surplus
• Require a supermajority vote to raise income taxes
• Restrict the use of public safety aid to only licensed peace officers
• Prohibit funds from going to cities or counties that took actions to “Defund the Police” through reduced funding for peace officers over the last four year

 

Republicans did successfully amend the bill to expand the list of eligible baby products for a tax exemption. 

On Wednesday, April 26, Minnesota Senate Democrats tossed aside a longstanding custom of bipartisan election changes by passing two bills loaded with controversial, partisan, and divisive overhauls of Minnesota’s elections process. The final bill passed on party line vote 34-33. 

  

This highly partisan elections legislation was crafted by a DC-based interest group and blatantly ignores Minnesota voters. This bill will only chill free speech, reduce confidence in the electoral system, and put burdensome mandates on local elections officials. We should only be changing election law to increase transparency in the system and insuring integrity.

The most controversial item in the elections policy bill is the National Popular Vote Compact, which would add Minnesota to the list of states that agree to bind their presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote. Doing so would effectively eliminate the Electoral College, which was created in part to protect the influence of small states. Some scholars argue the National Popular Vote Compact itself is unconstitutional, as Congress must consent to interstate compacts. Republicans offered an amendment to remove the National Popular Vote Compact from the bill to protect Minnesota’s independence and prevent our electors from being bound by the decisions of other states, but Democrats rejected it on a party line vote.

 

The policy bill loosens residency rules, enabling candidates to claim residency without proper verification. Republicans proposed an amendment to remove this provision, but it was denied. This issue came to light after a traffic stop involving DFL Representative John Thompson, who had a Wisconsin driver's license despite being a Minnesota resident.

The "Democracy for the People" Act reduces election transparency in various ways. The bill allows for pre-registration of 16-year-olds, which could lead to ineligible voters being classified as non-public data. Pre registering minors to vote would put them on the ineligible status roster. Due to their age, the ineligible roster will then be sealed and not made public to the population. This will make it incredibly difficult to clear out voter rolls. It also permits permanent absentee voting without validating the voter's address or eligibility. The bill also requires counties to provide a certified translator at polling places, which may be challenging to implement. Additionally, the bill reinstates restrictions on political speech at polling places, contrary to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling.
 

Republican amendments to improve the bill would: 

• Remove pre-registration of 16-year-olds to protect election transparency and integrity by keeping ineligible voter data public
• Remove the provision allowing permanent absentee ballots with no validation, to guard against the security of future elections
• Change the automatic voter registration requirement to “opt-in” instead of “opt-out”
• Prohibit loopholes for wealthy organizations to influence our elections and policy 

 

These amendments were rejected by Senate Democrats.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me for help with any state issue or legislative initiative: [email protected] or at (651) 296-3219.

Senator Calvin Bahr

Minnesota Senate, District 31

 

Choose Freedom,