Republicans, the majority in the chamber, have failed to hold public hearings on several important bills, curtailing key input. Minnesota is one of just two states in the country with a split legislature — one chamber led by a different political party than the other. While this can certainly be frustrating for the party in […] Read more
I’m proud of the Minnesota Senate’s long history of supporting our state’s youngest leaders. Among other events, the Senate arranges its schedule each year to facilitate the YMCA’s Youth in Government Model Assembly, which encourages students to be active participants in their governance, not bystanders. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday was a sharp departure […] Read more
BUDGET A significant win this session was the repeal of the sunset of the 2% provider tax, which is set at a new, ongoing level of 1.8%. The additional revenue from the tax opened opportunities in the budget to make investments in many programs that will improve the lives of Minnesotans, including help for low-income […] Read more
BUDGET The Senate Republicans’ original veterans and military affairs budget proposal had a $0 target and failed to adequately fund those who have served and continue to serve the state and country. The bill included no additional funding for operating budgets. The Department of Military Affairs (MDMA) received no additional funding – the only new […] Read more
TAX OVERVIEW The final tax bill contained several bipartisan tax-relief measures, federal tax conformity, and several local tax provisions to help communities across the state. The biggest complaints were lack of conformity to at least $400 million of corporate foreign income provisions, the use of $491 million in budget reserves during a time of surplus, […] Read more
BUDGET The state government omnibus bill spends a total of $1.15 billion in 2020-2021. The bill has a budget target of $66 million over the base, it avoids the multitude of budget cuts proposed by the Senate Republicans, and it provides modest operating increases to many state agencies. The bill authorizes the full $6.6 million […] Read more
