Legislative Update

Third deadline is quickly approaching which means that the Ways and Means Committee has been extra busy as a number of finance bills must be at our committee table by this day. Every bill that deals with the state budget has to make a stop through this committee so that gives me a first-hand look at the long wishlist of spending proposals this year. Even with the $17.5 billion in the surplus these bills would quickly spend through that and then some.

This week Governor Walz along with Speaker Hortman and Senate President Champion unveiled their budget targets that include a 17.9 billion dollar net increase over the previous budget. This means the state would spend nearly $72 billion in the next two-year budget cycle, this is a 39% increase over the last biennium. Unfortunately, this aggressive budget doesn't even address some of the biggest issues our state is facing right now. Important infrastructure like roads and bridges is hardly addressed in this framework and many of the priorities laid out do not align with the needs of our state. While I still believe we should be focusing on tax cuts and ending the tax on social security with this budget surplus, if the majority wants to go on a spending spree that could at least do a better job of spending the money where it is needed most.

National Agriculture Day was Tuesday and I had the opportunity to speak with a number of farmers and those in the ag industry. The Farm Bureau was at the capitol to discuss some of the challenges their members are planning for this coming season. Agriculture makes up a significant portion of our state's economy and we should be supporting them at the capitol as much as they support all of Minnesota.

Legislative Update

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