|
Hello from the State Capitol,
The 2024 legislative session is over, and the legislative majority doubled down on its efforts to raise taxes and grow government.
Considering we have a projected budget deficit next year, the Democrats should have been looking for ways to keep that deficit from growing. Instead they went the opposite direction, and Minnesotans can expect to see more taken out of their paychecks in the future.
Last session, House and Senate Democrats and Governor Walz agreed to spend a nearly $18 billion budget surplus, raise taxes by $10 billion, and grow state government by 40%.
Part of the majority’s spending spree last session was on the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) plan. This nearly $3 billion program is paid for by a brand-new tax on employers and employees and expands employers’ leave obligations to part-time and temporary workers. This session the majority recognized $3 billion isn’t going to be enough to fund the program, so it approved another $735 million tax increase on Minnesotans on the final day of session.
The PFML bill was included in a mega omnibus spending proposal that the majority approved with minutes left in session. The 1,400-page bill also included spending relating to taxes, transportation, housing, labor, higher education, agriculture, energy, and human services. Also included is language relating to scope of practice and a binary trigger ban for firearms. No one had a chance to review this massive proposal prior to a vote being taken.
The Democrat trifecta couldn’t get things done in a timely fashion. They are trying to blame Republicans for debating too long, but several of the budget bills hadn’t even returned from conference committees, which means they hadn’t been processed. It’s tough to vote on something that isn’t available, and that reverts back to the Democrats’ mismanagement of session.
The same can be said for capital investment legislation that was supposed to be debated this year. While a cash bill for infrastructure was approved in the House, it did not receive a vote in the Senate because it arrived too late. A traditional bonding bill that borrows money to pay for statewide infrastructure projects was never brought up for a House floor debate.
Once again, you can’t get things done if bills don’t show up. The legislative process under all-Democrat control has been very ugly and very frustrating over the past two years.
Talk to you soon,
Paul
|
