Friends and neighbors,

Addressing the rise in carjackings:

The upsurge of carjackings in our state is alarming and serves as a concern that must be addressed this legislative session. Recently, my colleagues and I in the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee heard two proposals that would help achieve just that.

First, we heard a bill, SF-2573, to establish the crime of carjacking. Under current law, carjacking is just considered robbery. However, it’s important we clearly define carjacking in state statute to ensure mandatory minimums for this conviction. Right now, some people who are sentenced for carjacking are being let off too lightly. I believe it’s critical there is a strong enough sentence to deter future crimes.

We also heard a bill, SF-3352, to require law enforcement agencies to report carjacking data to the Department of Public Safety (DPS). Since carjacking is currently considered a part of the crime of robbery, it has not always been reported separately or accurately. 

The bill heard in committee would address this by requiring a specific column for carjacking in the DPS’ annual uniform crime report. This data would more clearly demonstrate the increase in carjacking across Minnesota. And if the bill to define the crime of carjacking also passes, it would be even easier for the agencies to report this data.

Funding for Minnesota’s roads and bridges:

From township roads to large state highways, the people of Minnesota rely on our roads and bridges to get around. And Senate Republicans recently proposed a massive new investment in roads and bridges using existing revenue.

In the past, Governor Walz proposed increasing the gas tax to fund these infrastructure projects, which would have also been tied to the price of inflation. Not only was this not a viable, long-term form of funding, but imagine how hard Minnesotans would have been hit by the rising inflation rates.

My colleagues and I instead want to pave the way to sustainable funding. We recently put forward a proposal to shift 100% of tax revenue from the sale of auto parts from the general fund to the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund (HUTDF). This would allow the state to fund roads and bridges without raising gas taxes, tab fees, or sales taxes, and without adding a new mileage tax on commuters. 

Currently, as shown by the attached chart, the HUTDF is made up of four sources of revenue and has a total revenue of $2.6 billion. If signed into law, our proposal would provide more than $314 million to the HUTDF for roads and bridges in 2023, $324 million in 2024, and $336 million in 2025, according to a nonpartisan Senate Fiscal analysis.

This new funding is very important for Minnesota’s infrastructure. I believe using the auto parts sales tax revenue is a long-term funding stream, which has a much broader base and greater support than the gas tax increase. 

February revenue forecast:

The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget recently released its February revenue forecast, which provides information and outlook for Minnesota’s financial picture. The report projects a surplus of $9.253 billion for the next budget cycle, which is up from the previous $7.7 billion surplus in the December forecast. This may at first seem like exciting news, but the reality is that the surplus is so large because you are being overtaxed. 

Therefore, my Senate Republican colleagues and I have proposed giving this money back to Minnesotans in the form of a long-term, permanent tax cut. The proposal would reduce the first-tier income tax rate from 5.35% to 2.8% and eliminate the tax on Social Security.

If passed, the changes would provide $8.51 billion in tax relief to taxpayers over the next three years and serve as our state’s biggest tax cut ever.  

Contact me

As always, if have questions or concerns on any legislative topic, feel free to contact me any time. You can call me at 651-296-5655 or send me an email at sen.mary.kiffmeyer@senate.mn. It is a privilege to serve as your state senator.

Sincerely,

Mary