Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
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In January, many legislators from both political parties promised the 2012 legislative session would be focused on job creation and economic growth. In the nearly four months since session began, there certainly have been opportunities to make that happen. I carried the Governor’s Jobs Bill, which provided tax incentives and financial support for businesses and job-seekers. I also sit on the Tax Committee, which heard various proposals that could have helped stimulate the economy. U...
The legislature this week considered a measure that would have increased hunting and fishing license fees in order to raise about $11 million for the Department of Natural Resource’s Game and Fish Fund. That revenue helps support important needs such as fish stocking, enforcement and management of wildlife areas, conservation law enforcement, and research. More than half of the Game and Fish Fund’s revenue comes from license fees but because those haven’t been increased in more than a decade, si...
Even-numbered years in the Minnesota legislature typically are reserved for capital investment work. Members advocate for public projects around the state that could use financial help, and the legislature compiles a package of recommendations to receive state funding. The money for these projects is not derived from the state’s General Fund budget. Instead, the state sells bonds in order to pay for the projects. It’s considered to be a financially responsible way to provide support to pub...
The Senate Tax Committee approved an Omnibus Tax Bill this week that the full Senate will be asked to vote on in the coming days. The legislature isn’t crafting a budget this year so the bill isn’t very broad, but it does contain some worthwhile provisions. The bill also uses the budget reserve to fund these provisions, and it adds $190 million to the deficit in the next biennium. If we have learned anything the last number of years, it is that if the legislature is going to spend money, it nee...
The state’s economic experts released a new budget forecast Wednesday that revealed the state has an additional $323 million available for the current budget cycle. This is another good sign that Minnesota’s economy may be starting to recover from the recession. The November 2011 forecast also showed a modest surplus, and unemployment figures released this week showed Minnesota is gaining jobs. Unfortunately, poor budget decisions made in recent years are preventing the state from taking ful...
Minnesota lawmakers passed all budget bills to Governor Mark Dayton last week, even though there still was no agreement between the Governor and lawmakers as to how to solve the $5 billion budget deficit. Republican leaders in the House and Senate forged ahead with their all-cuts budget, which makes deep spending cuts that will have significant negative effects on all Minnesotans. In contrast, Gov. Dayton offered Republican leaders in the House and Senate a compromise solution that could have...
Aside from solving the budget deficit, the legislature is tasked with another main duty before the session ends next week. Along with the Governor, we must produce plans to create new legislative and Congressional district boundaries throughout the state, in response to the 2010 Census data. Every 10 years, states around the country assess the most recent Census data and analyze how their states’ populations have changed. In Minnesota, we were at serious risk of losing a Congressional seat had o...
This week, Governor Mark Dayton admitted that his optimism for adjourning the 2011 legislative session on time, on May 23, is waning. This is disappointing to hear, but not surprising. As much as he’s tried to begin negotiations with the legislature, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate haven’t responded to his requests. This week, they ignored a May 6 deadline to send him budget bills so the two sides could begin honest discussions about how to come to a compromise. Without the...
The legislature has reached the final days of the 2011 session. By May 23 – less than three weeks from now – we have to agree with the Governor on a budget under which the state will operate for the next two years. Right now, we have $5 billion less in the state’s coffers than we need to fulfill all of the obligations we’ve made. Those obligations include keeping hospitals and nursing homes open, keeping police departments funded across the state, providing tax deductions for things such as...
