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McDonald




Greetings,

While it?s hard to tell by the temperature outside, fall is just a month away (and the new school year will begin even sooner) so let?s do all we can to soak summer while we can!

Here are some notes from the House:

*Increased nursing home funding*

Nursing homes in House District 29A have begun receiving shares of the $300 million infusion in state funding fellow House Republicans and I championed and the Legislature provided last May.

Annandale Care Center ($405,743), The Estates at Delano ($425,826), and the Good Samaritan Society in Howard Lake ($353,528) received the first half of those funding totals earlier this month, with the remaining portions due Aug. 1, 2024.

It is good House Republicans successfully negotiated increased funding for nursing homes after Gov. Tim Walz and House Democrats dedicated just $3.9 million to new nursing home funding in their original budget proposals for the new biennium. Budgets reflect priorities, which would have made it a disgrace to underfund our seniors in the face of a nearly $18 billion state surplus.

In the end, we did the right thing by providing more funding to support our highly appreciated long-term care workers and seniors who deserve quality care. This is a step toward stabilizing Minnesota?s struggling long-term care industry, with?nursing homes closing across the state and others on the financial brink. Families are waiting months and looking up to four hours away to find a safe place for loved ones, while a worker shortage has left around 25 percent of nursing home caregiver jobs vacant.

While I?m happy we delivered, our aging population is going to put long-term care services in even higher demand in the future so we need to continue working on sustainable solutions for the long haul.

*Back-to-school savings*

The cost of purchasing back-to-school supplies can quickly add up, which makes it a good idea for people to save receipts and take advantage of tax benefits that can provide some relief.??

Minnesota has both a K-12 education credit and a K-12 education subtraction for school-related expenses. Both programs reduce the taxes parents pay and could provide a larger refund when filing state income taxes. Qualifications apply and expenses must be for children attending kindergarten through 12th grade at a public, private, or home school.?

School supplies that qualify for the credit or subtraction include writing utensils, textbooks, musical instrument rentals, tutoring, and computer hardware/educational software. Parents are encouraged to check the Department of Revenue website [ [link removed] ] to determine which expenses qualify.??

While the education subtraction is not subject to income limits, the credit is limited to households with incomes less than $76,000 for families with one or two children, and $79,000 for families with three children. For families with three or more children, the household income must be less than $79,000 plus $3,000 for each additional child.???

The Department of Revenue reports more than 17,000 families received the K-12 Education Credit last year, for an average credit of $280. Additionally, over 134,000 families received the K-12 Education Subtraction, for an average subtraction of $1,266.

Until next time, please stay in touch and let me know how I may help.

Regards,

Joe






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State Rep. Joe McDonald
241 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-4336







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