Dear Friends,

First, I want to wish all moms a very happy Mother?s Day. Thank you for everything you do to support our families. I know I look forward to celebrating my wife with our girls this weekend.

This week conference committees have been meeting to finalize the differences between the House and Senate omnibus bills. Despite Minnesota?s $17.5 billion surplus, these bills are set to raise your taxes by $10 billion. We should be passing permanent, meaningful tax relief, like ending the tax on social security, for our hardworking families instead of raising more taxes and fees to pay for a state budget that is 40% larger than the last biennium.

Although I disagree with many of these omnibus bills as they are coming out of conference committee, I am proud of the Veterans bill which passed with unanimous support this week. The Veterans omnibus bill will provide bonuses for Veterans, construction of new military and museum facilities, a new Army Fitness Field House, and staffing for three new Veterans Homes.

I am disappointed, however, that provisions to prevent fraud and ensure your tax dollars are being spent as they are intended was removed. We need more transparency and accountability from government, not less. You can learn more by clicking my photo below.