Friends and neighbors,
It is no secret that efforts to defund, demean, and disrespect our police have led to a rise in violent crime and made our communities less safe. This is an issue I have been hearing about for the last few years. This week, Republicans introduced a new public safety plan that addresses the concerns you have been telling us about.
Our Safe and Sound plan will hold violent criminals accountable for their actions, improve accountability in our justice system, and provide funding to our police.
It has three main components:
1. It confronts rising criminal threats with harsher penalties
2. It strengthens law enforcement by recruiting new good officers and improving training programs
3. It holds judges and prosecutors accountable with new transparency and data reporting requirements.
Rising crime is a real concern. We are addressing it head-on.
Helping snowmobile clubs groom and maintain state trails
This week, The Senate Tax Committee reviewed my bill that would expand an existing sales tax exemption to Minnesota’s nonprofit snowmobile clubs to help with building and maintaining the state’s 22,000 miles of snowmobile trails.
Minnesota is fortunate to have one of the best snowmobile trail systems in the country. Those trails are mostly developed and maintained by volunteers in local snowmobile clubs and are in constant need of grooming and maintenance. For these clubs, it is a labor of love – they donate their time and energy and raise money to fund this work so the rest of us can play all winter. Expanding this sales tax exemption is not just a way to show our gratitude; it will make their work a little bit easier.
Under current law, if a nonprofit snowmobile club buys equipment, like grooming machines and attachments, to groom state snowmobile trails they don't have to pay sales taxes on the purchase. Senator Eichorn’s bill would expand the sales tax exemption to include materials and supplies used to build, fix, maintain, or improve snowmobile trails.
The sales tax exemption only applies if the club received a grant from the state for taking care of the trails in the last three years.
More than 20,000 of the 22,000 miles of state snowmobile trails are considered “grant-in-aid” trails. Local snowmobile clubs, consisting of volunteers across the state, are often relied on to manage the development and maintenance of those trails, in conjunction with local governments and the Department of Natural Resources.
Attempting to eliminate the Social Security benefits tax… again
As you know, I am a strong advocate for completely eliminating the tax on Social Security benefits. A number of Democrats claimed they were too when they were campaigning last summer and fall. But every time we attempt to get rid of it, they stand in the way.
It happened again on Thursday, March 9. Every Democrat voted against eliminating the tax. We’ll keep trying.
Recent constituent visits
