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Hello from St. Paul,
A state budget is now in place after numerous finance proposals were approved during a special legislative session that was held on June 9 at the State Capitol.
The budget bills were filled with provisions that I liked and disliked. The reality of having 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats running the Minnesota House is that both sides are going to be disappointed with budget proposals. While I’ll be the first to admit these bills have room for improvement, I can also assure you they could have been much, much worse.
Lawmakers approved 14 separate bills during the special session. These included budget proposals that will fund specific areas within state government over the next two years, such as K-12 Education, transportation and health. The budget agreement provides the largest cut to government spending in state history. It eliminates nearly half of the projected budget deficit Democrats created when they grew government by 40% and raised taxes by $10 billion two years ago, and no Minnesota family will see a sales or income tax increase.
Legislators also approved language that ends the tremendously expensive free health insurance for illegal immigrants’ program for adults. The number of illegal immigrants taking advantage of the government freebie has skyrocketed, costing Minnesota’s taxpayers at least $550 million.
The taxes proposal I helped craft prevented cuts to the Local Government Aid (LGA), County Program Aid (CPA), and Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs, and stopped more than $8 billion in proposed Democrat tax increases from moving forward. This means property taxpayers and working families can breathe a sigh of relief, as the taxes bill stopped numerous costly provisions from becoming law.
Talk to you soon,
Greg
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