Hello,
The 2023 legislative session is finally over. It was a great session if you are a liberal-leaning nonprofit, a Democrat donor, or otherwise an activist group or ally of the new Democrat state government trifecta.
For everyone else, I recommend you hold on to your wallets.
If there is a common thread running through this session, it’s this: Democrats will always, always, always want more of your money.
We had a $19 billion budget surplus when we began constructing the new state budget. Not only did Democrats spend the entire surplus, but they also RAISED your taxes!
And this is not just taxes on the ‘rich’ as they often say. They raised the gas tax, tied to inflation. They raised license tab fees. They raised sales taxes. They raised taxes on workers and their employers. These are taxes that will hit low and middle-income people hardest; the folks who are living paycheck to paycheck and feeling squeezed by high inflation.
We are still going through the numbers, but it adds up to more than $9 billion in tax INCREASES.
With a $9 billion surplus, raising taxes is just insanity. We already overtaxed Minnesotans to a ludicrous degree. Instead of asking for more, we should be giving it back.
EMERGENCY NURSING HOME AID
There was one big victory this session, however: we secured significant emergency nursing home aid. Nursing homes across Minnesota are facing a legit crisis situation. According to Long-Term Care Imperative, a collaboration of aging services providers, 15% of nursing homes statewide have completely exhausted their financial reserves and 10% are considering closing. In Greater Minnesota, 17% have no financial reserve and 12% are considering closures. With about 350 nursing homes in the state, that puts 60 nursing homes without reserves, and 41 considering closure.
In the final days of session, Senate Republicans struck a deal to provide an additional $300 million to address Minnesota’s nursing home crisis. Throughout the year, Democrats showed almost no interest in addressing the challenges faced by nursing homes. They have prioritized almost everything ahead of nursing homes, despite the fact that 50 of these facilities have closed in recent years. It’s a dire situation, but Republicans held firm and insisted that we put more money to help nursing homes through this crisis.
The agreement will include direct grants, facility rate increases, and a workforce incentive fund that adds up to about $1.1 million for every nursing home in the state. These new funds are in addition to the $100 million in loans available in the Human Services bill.
Contact me
If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is [email protected], or you can call me at 651-296-7079.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.fb.com/SenatorJustinEichorn.
It is a privilege to serve you!
