|
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope everyone is enjoying the fun festivities of the holiday season! We got our tree and decorations up last weekend and I was able to volunteer as a Shopping Elf at Cross Services today!
I hope to see many of you as Santa makes 3 stops in beautiful #37A tomorrow! I’ll be at the Maple Grove Community Center for breakfast with Santa at 8:30, then visiting with Santa at the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes at 2:00 and seeing him off when the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train makes a stop in Loretto about 4:30. All of these are fun family events and the weather is going to be perfect – hope to see a lot of people out and about tomorrow!
|
 |
|
The Capitol is also decked for the holidays! Every year we have a beautiful Minnesota Grown tree, which I got to see this week when I was there for a tax policy meeting.
Keep reading for important updates on more wasteful spending by the lame-duck Rules Committee and the new November Budget Forecast!
|
|
|
Executive Summary
-
Taxpayers Paying Legislator's Private Legal Bills
-
Looming Deficit
|
|
Taxpayers Paying Legislator's Private Legal Bills
On Tuesday, during a meeting of the lame-duck House Rules Committee, the DFL Majority voted unanimously to use taxpayers’ money to pay one of their member's private legal bills.
After her election to the House of Representatives in a 2023 special election, Representative Bianca Virnig was involved in a private labor dispute with her employer relating to her hours being reduced. Although no lawsuit was filed, Rep. Virnig reached a settlement with her former employer. The specific amount or terms of the settlement were not disclosed to the Rules Committee and neither Rep. Virnig nor her legal counsel were at the hearing to answer questions relating to the settlement.
Neither Chair Long nor any other Members of the Majority could provide the amount of the settlement Rep. Virnig received or explain why taxpayers should pay for her legal counsel. The House of Representatives was not a party to the dispute or the settlement.
The DFL Majority on the committee then passed a resolution that paid Rep. Virnig’s $10,391 legal bill with taxpayer money. This is an abuse of power by the Majority for the benefit of one of their Members in the waning days of their full control of state government.
You can read my full statement here and watch my remarks during committee here.
Taxpayers should never be on the hook for a Member’s private legal bills. It is also an abuse of taxpayers to expect them to pay for legal bills when Rep. Virnig got a monetary settlement. Despite repeated questioning of the Majority, they could not tell us how much she received in the settlement or any other details. We have now filed a data request to get the details of the settlement to better understand the situation.
I hope we get clarification on this soon and that we can put a stop to it before the bill is paid or otherwise get taxpayers repaid out of the settlement she received.
|
|
Looming Deficit
On Wednesday, Minnesota's Management and Budget (MMB) Office announced the state is facing a $5.1 billion deficit in FY28-29 during their annual November Budget Forecast. This forecast is used by Legislators to guide spending decisions in the upcoming session.
In addition to showing that our state is facing a deficit, the outlook for the coming 2026-2027 biennium also worsened substantially. MMB is now projecting a $616 million balance at the end of 2026-27, which is $1.1 billion less than previously forecasted.
During the past two years, the Democrats spent the entire $18 billion surplus, raised taxes an additional $11 billion, and grew the state budget by 38%. House Republicans warned repeatedly that this reckless spending was unsustainable and now we see the results.
A tied House means that the House Republicans are now a co-equal Majority and we will be able to limit the growth of government. We must get bipartisan agreement to cut wasteful spending and fraud. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the DFL to deliver those results for the people of Minnesota.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with your friends and family! Please keep those who have lost loved ones in your prayers – particularly the family of Red Lake Officer Jesse Branch, who died in the line of duty last week and will be laid to rest tomorrow. Our community in 37A has had two tragic deaths in the past few weeks – please also pray for the families of Orono High School student Lucas Knudson and the family of Brian Thompson, who lived in Maple Grove. I can’t imagine their grief.
|
|
Please Contact Me
Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.
The best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.gov. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked every weekday while we are in session.
Of course, if you are coming to the Capitol, I’d love to meet you! Please reach out if you would like to set-up an in-person meeting.
Have a great weekend!
Kristin
|
|
239 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806 |
|
|
|
