Notes From The Capitol

By Paul Anderson, State House Representative District 12B

After two weeks of marathon floor sessions, all of this year’s major spending bills have been passed out of the Minnesota House.

We had a string of seven nights in that span when debate ended at midnight, which is the most late-night sessions during my time in the Legislature. Work now transitions to conference committees, whose members all have been announced. I was one of three House members named to the conference committee on agriculture, and we were scheduled to hold our first meeting with a like number of senators on Monday of this week. Sen. Torrey Westrom was the Republican named to the conference committee from that body.

What was amazing about these bills – nearly all of which passed on party-line votes – was the amount of new spending they call for. Our current state budget contains just over $52 billion in expenditures, whereas the new one being put together for the next biennium is up around $70 billion. That’s an increase of 35 percent!  The state surplus is being used up, but even that’s not enough to cover all these projected new expenses. Some taxes in various areas are being increased to the tune of $9.5 billion.

Here’s one that will hit nearly all Minnesotans: The rate used to determine the cost of license tabs for vehicles will be modified under the DFL House plan. During the first few years of ownership, car owners will pay significantly more for their tabs, while the depreciation rate in years six-10 would be sped up. As an example, the current cost for a typical $40,000 new vehicle in the first year of ownership is $524. Under the DFL plan, that first year license tab fee would increase to $790. Over the span of 11 years, the difference between the current plan and the new one is a nearly 30-percent increase in the cost of license tabs.

The tax bill passed out of the House does contain several good items, among which are provisions that will help homeowners with the rapidly rising cost of property taxes. However, it also adds a new, fifth tier rate for income tax filers. Individually, it would affect those with incomes over $1 million, but it will also impact smaller businesses who pay their state tax at the highest rate in order to receive a larger deduction on their federal return. There are rebate checks included in tax bill, only they will be much smaller than talked about during last fall’s campaign. Instead of $2,000-$3,000, checks will be going out to joint filers with incomes under $100,000 in the amount of $285 per individual.

Another item generating a great number of comments from constituents is a provision in the tax bill to change how electronic pull tabs work. This type of gaming has been around for several years now and was designed to be the primary source of revenue to pay for the Vikings football stadium. Well, after a slow start, e-tabs have really taken off and become popular. So much so that enough tax revenue has been raised to pay off the stadium mortgage 20 years early! It’s also been a large source of income for our local charities and the valuable work they do supporting causes in their home towns. A change in how these e-tabs are formatted is included in the tax bill, and it’s causing a great deal of concern among local charities. This provision is not contained in the Senate tax bill so we are hopeful it will be taken out during conference committee.

Among the most troubling provisions to be passed last week was one included in the health bill. In addition to containing more pro-abortion provisions, funding for a pro-life program known as Positives Alternatives was cancelled. In our area, the program is known as Options for Women, and they do a wonderful job. Before and after delivery of a child, the program is there to help in a variety of ways. I have attended several fund-raising events for chapters in Stearns and Stevens counties known as Evening for Life. These events will now become even more important for these organizations.