Moorhead Senator Offered Amendment to Fully Repeal Social Security Tax
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Tuesday, the Minnesota Senate passed an omnibus tax bill that provides more than $4 billion in tax cuts, the largest such bill in state history. The bill includes significant targeted tax relief for seniors, families, homeowners, and farmers. Another piece of the bill designates $325 in funding for cities and counties to pay for public safety measures.
During the floor session, Senator Rob Kupec (DFL-Moorhead) offered an amendment to fully repeal the Social Security income tax for all Minnesotans. His proposal would have balanced the tax budget by creating a 2.1 percent tax on investment income exceeding $250,000, a tax that would have affected only 0.6 percent of filers. Senator Kupec’s floor speech introducing his amendment is attached to this press release.
After a lengthy debate, the amendment was voted down. Senator Kupec later joined with all other DFL senators to pass the tax cut bill on a party-line vote.
Following the floor vote, Senator Kupec issued the following statement:
“Eliminating the tax on Social Security income has been a top priority of mine since I began running for this seat in the Senate. I have made that position clear to my fellow legislators, and in fact the first bill I authored this session was for the full repeal of the tax. I have worked hard to build a coalition that could get this done in a responsible way. The amendment I brought during Tuesday’s floor session would have provided tax relief to 227,000 of our seniors, without cutting funds for schools, nursing homes, roads and bridges and public safety. I was disappointed to see the amendment was not adopted. However, I am proud of the tax bill we passed, which will save Minnesotans $4 billion, including the targeted repeal fully eliminating taxes for more than three-quarters of Minnesotans receiving Social Security. This is a strong step that will put money back in seniors’ pockets, and I look forward to seeing it come back in the tax bill that returns from the conference committee.”
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