The Senate Taxes Committee heard legislation Thursday that would provide help to Minnesota’s liquor industry as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. The bipartisan legislation, SF 2064, would provide a temporary tax credit for Minnesota’s brewers, liquor retailers, and wholesalers who had to buy back or dump their products, or purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies.
Following the police killing of Daunte Wright, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka announced that the Senate Judiciary and Transportation Committees would host “fact finding” public safety hearings in the next two weeks. Despite promising to discuss additional public safety, criminal justice, and police accountability measures following the passage of initial reforms last July, these hearings will be the first to discuss public safety issues in the 2021 Legislative Session.
To help Minnesota’s liquor industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Karla Bigham (DFL-Cottage Grove) has introduced bipartisan legislation that would provide a temporary tax credit for Minnesota’s brewers, liquor retailers, and wholesalers who had to buy back or dump their products, or purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced findings that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination exceeded health-based guidance values determined by the Minnesota Department of Health in groundwater at 59 closed landfills in 41 counties across Minnesota. To address this contamination, the MPCA has requested use of funds from the Closed Landfill Investment Fund to respond to this contamination, which requires legislative action.
The Minnesota Senate passed legislation (SF 263) Thursday on a bipartisan vote of 55-12, conforming Minnesota tax law with federal guidance to exempt recipients of Paycheck Protection Plan loans from state taxes. The measure provides immediate relief for small businesses who are in the midst of filing their taxes.
The women of the Senate DFL gathered today virtually to rally for Minnesota to finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The federal Equal Rights Amendment was originally written in 1923 and finally passed by Congress in 1972. Minnesota ratified the ERA one year later in 1973. After nearly 100 years, the ERA bill was passed in the Minnesota House in 2019, but did not make it past the Republican-controlled Senate.