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Dear Neighbor,
A finance package to fund the agriculture section of the state’s next two-year budget was the first omnibus bill to pass the House this session as budget work hit full stride at the Capitol this week.
Yesterday, the House approved ag legislation which combats infectious diseases in flocks and herds while eliminating wasteful spending and rejecting proposed fee increases. I co-chair the House committee on agriculture, which assembled the bill with bipartisan collaboration.
One of my top priorities with this bill is ensuring the Board of Animal Health has the funding it needs to respond to any future livestock disease outbreaks. They've had their hands full in recent years managing highly pathogenic bird flu, which has impacted our turkey and chicken flocks. Now that the virus has been found in dairy cattle as well, it’s more important than ever to protect our state’s livestock and poultry and the Board of Animal Health plays a key role in that mission.
Provisions not in the bill also represent victories. Namely, it excludes fee increases proposed by Gov. Tim Walz’s Department of Agriculture. Given the tough economic climate in the ag industry right now, the last thing we should do is raise fees on those working in agriculture. There were proposals to significantly increase grain inspection fees, including some that would have driven up costs by more than 200% for some grain elevators. It is good those fee hikes were left out of our bill.
After passing the House, a conference committee now will work to reconcile differences between House and Senate ag bills before a vote takes place on final approval.
In other news, enrollment in MinnesotaCare for undocumented immigrants has more than doubled initial estimates, causing program costs to rise well beyond projections.
Passed by Democrats in 2023, the cost was originally projected to cost $196 million over four years. With current enrollment, that cost has ballooned to an estimated $550 million and continues to grow. The Minnesota Department of Health reports 17,396 undocumented individuals are now enrolled in the state-funded health insurance program, more than twice the original forecast of 7,700.
These number far exceed the cost to taxpayers that was originally presented. Minnesotans are already feeling the pinch with higher costs across the board, and now they’re being asked to cover a massive bill that wasn’t part of the original plan.
Republicans have introduced legislation to repeal the MinnesotaCare expansion for undocumented immigrants. This would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four years and reduce incentives for illegal immigration to the state.
On a final note, the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority has approved the city of Appleton for $1.9 million in state financing for drinking water infrastructure. The funding is provided through three separate streams, including a pair of grants totaling more than $1.5 million and a $385,727 loan. In addition to the grant dollars awarded, the PFA estimates that the loan – 30 years at 1.391 percent – will save local taxpayers approximately $168,609 in interest costs compared to market rate financing. More PFA information is available at www.mn.gov/deed/pfa.
We expect a steady parade of finance bills on the House floor next week so there will be plenty to talk about next time. Until then, have a good weekend and please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Paul
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