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Dear Friends,
We are now in the final days of the legislative session and have been told we will finish by May 18th.? Conference Committees have been meeting over the last week to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate omnibus bills. There are still several bills, including the tax bill, which do not have agreement between the House and Senate. Below is a chart which shows exactly where each Omnibus bill is at along with a link to the actual bill language.
Omnibus Bill Update
Public Safety and Judiciary completed their work late yesterday evening, but it will likely take a couple of days before the conference report is available. We do know that there are gun restrictions in this final bill but that exact language hasn?t been released yet. I?do not support any unnecessary or harmful gun control provisions, so unless this changes I will be voting NO on this bill.
The Republican Senate is still holding strong in negotiations for additional tax relief and nursing home financial support in return for votes on the Bonding bill. Our Senator, Karin Housley, has been leading that charge. I am very grateful for her leadership on this issue as it?s one of the few points of leverage we actually have against the DFL trifecta.
As a reminder, we have a $17.5 billion surplus. However, all totaled these bills are projected to raise taxes by $10 billion and increase the size of state government by 40%.?
We should not be raising taxes on our families when government is flush with cash!
Here are a few key points from the bills already passed:
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Veterans Bill:?This bill passed unanimously. One key provision for our area is a grant to the Veterans camp on Big Marine Lake to help with sewer reconstruction.
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Legacy:?This was another fairly non-controversial bill. In 2008, Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. This bill distributes those constitutionally required dollars for projects across the state. We were able to secure $100,000 for a veterans memorial in Forest Lake which will be built near the beach downtown.
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Housing:?The housing omnibus bill was very controversial and includes a .25% additional metro area sales tax for affordable housing projects.?
I also have significant concerns with the Higher Education Omnibus Bill. This bill will provide free public school college for families with an adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less.?This significant investment was never vetted by the House and will reduce state programs in other essential areas to pay for it. It also doesn?t eliminate the other costs of attending college. It deletes funding for workforce development scholarships which help students who are studying in high-demand fields.
Enrollment has been decreasing over the last 10 years. The University of Minnesota?s enrollment is down 6% since 2013, and Minnesota State?s enrollment is down 27.9% systemwide since 2013. We are also facing an enrollment cliff in 2023 because of low birth rates.
Democrats are arguing that free college will help declining enrollment, but like any government program, nothing is actually ?free.? The final bill was full of more wasteful spending. We need to be putting students first by ensuring college is affordable and by holding institutions accountable.?
We are heading back into session to debate and likely pass the Agriculture bill. In past years, this bill has been non-controversial and bipartisan but the 2023 Ag bill is full of horrible policy for our farmers. The bill was essentially written by Minneapolis and St. Paul Democrats who know nothing about agriculture. We have several farmers in our GOP caucus who are recommending a NO vote on this bill. I will follow their lead.
I will try to keep this updated every few days as we finish out the last 8 days of session.
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