Greetings from the district,

The 2022 legislative session is officially in the books. We were able to find bipartisan agreement on several important issues, which are listed below, but overall the session was disappointing. In all honesty, “frustrated” is a better word to describe what I am feeling about how things ended.

It’s become far too convenient for the government to blow past deadlines. In most other situations, when a deadline is set, it’s expected to be met. Even after Governor Walz mentioned several times that he would not call a special session, and I mentioned several times that Senate Republicans weren’t interested in a special session, the session was complicated by the Democrats’ refusal to take deadlines seriously. 

A good example was the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund (UI) fix. There was a hard deadline set by the administration of March 15 to get the bill passed. The Senate passed the UI fix on February 14 with strong bipartisan support. The House called the deadline “fake,” and didn’t pass the bill until the end of April – six weeks AFTER the deadline. 

Unfortunately, this same type of mentality was carried into end-of-session negotiations.

The Senate, led by Republicans, made countless good-faith efforts by putting forward public offers that would have gained bipartisan support. But continuous delays and objections from the House and Governor were obstacles that proved too big to overcome.

For example, in the State Government conference committee, the House DFL chair and the Senate Republican chair agreed to a State Government compromise, but at the beginning of the hearing a ‘hot mic’ picked up the House DFL chair informing the Republican chair that he had received a call from the governor and was instructed to kill the agreement. The exchange was caught on video.

Republicans were negotiating in good faith, but with the governor working behind the scenes to stop agreed-upon compromises, it’s no surprise session ended the way it did.

As we review the end of session, I thought it would be helpful to walk through the differences in some of the other major issue areas:

TAX CUTS AND THE BUDGET SURPLUS

Republicans prioritized giving the state’s record budget surplus back to taxpayers with permanent, ongoing tax relief that would have put more money in your pocket every paycheck, week after week, month after month, year after year. Our aim was to help hard-working Minnesotans and senior citizens who are feeling the pressure of skyrocketing inflation and economic stress.

• What we offered: We proposed a historic tax bill that would have fully eliminated the state’s tax on Social Security benefits – Minnesota is one of only 12 states that still taxes Social Security income. We also reduced the lowest income tax rate, so everyone who pays income taxes would have got a tax cut, and we pushed for property tax relief.

• What happened: On Saturday, May 21, a bipartisan agreement was reached with the House on a massive tax cut bill that would have fully eliminated Social Security taxes. It also would have reduced income taxes and would have provided property tax relief for the middle class and small businesses. The agreement was reached a full day before the legislature was scheduled to adjourn – in other words, there was plenty of time to pass that bill. It would have been an incredible victory for taxpayers. However, the House refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

• Legislative rules require that tax bills originate in the House. Unfortunately, the House did not bring the popular bipartisan tax bill up for a vote. It was agreed to and ready to go, but they chose not to act.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Violent crime is out of control. We hear from far too many Minnesotans who don’t feel safe in the communities where they live, work, and raise a family. That’s why Senate Republicans made public safety a priority.

• What we offered: All session long, we put forward offers to provide resources to help put more good cops on the street to better protect the public. We also put forward initiatives to hold violent criminals accountable for their actions – including stiffer penalties for carjackings, fleeing police, and fentanyl trafficking.

• What happened: Governor Walz and House Democrats rejected these common-sense ideas that would have helped reduce crime across the state. Their public safety offers consistently made funding for community nonprofits a higher priority than funding for law enforcement. Senate Republicans also wanted to get tougher on crime, but unfortunately we could not find common ground with Democrats.

EDUCATION

Education continues to be a priority for Democrats and Republicans in the legislature. We have worked together to provide record funding to public schools, including an investment of over $20 billion in the current two-year budget. Yet, a staggering 40% of students are not reading at grade level. That’s why this session Senate Republicans were laser-focused on initiatives to help kids read better.

• What we offered: The Senate put forward proposals to reverse Minnesota’s declining literacy scores, and we provided critical funding for the Special Education Cross Subsidy – the number one request we heard about from school districts across the state. We made multiple public offers that would accomplish those goals.

• What happened: For reasons that defy my understanding, no matter how much we tried to work together, House Democrats and Governor Walz would not accept the offers to invest in literacy programs and special education funding.

OTHER ISSUE AREAS

• Nursing homes: The long-term care industry is in crisis right now, with facilities across the state facing potential closures. Senate Republicans prioritized funding for nursing homes, disability service providers, and assisted living facilities. Democrats rejected those ideas and instead preferred investing in more government programs.

• Transportation infrastructure: The Senate put forward offers to heavily invest in rebuilding the state’s road and bridge infrastructure without raising the gas tax or license tab fees while the House proposals put a strong focus on transit initiatives.

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

In spite of those disappointments, we did have a number of victories for Minnesotans this session:

• Veterans: The legislature passed a great veterans bill that provides funding to complete construction of the new veterans home in Preston, as well as funding for an enlistment and re-enlistment bonus program that retains and rewards active servicemembers.

• Mental health: We passed a landmark bill that makes historic investments in mental health treatment and support, including resources for mental health services in schools, mobile crisis service teams, and it closes mental health gaps in our criminal justice system.

• Frontline worker bonuses: We provided bonuses for the dedicated frontline workers who put themselves at risk to keep us safe and healthy during the most challenging days of the pandemic.

• Unemployment insurance fix: As a result of forced shutdowns and a high number of layoffs during the pandemic, Minnesota owed the federal government more than a billion dollars in UI debt. We repaid that debt and fully refilled the UI fund to protect small businesses and their employees from unnecessary tax increases.

• Agriculture and rural broadband: We passed a terrific agriculture and broadband bill that provides drought relief for farmers, addresses animal diseases like the avian flu outbreak, and expands broadband access for unserved areas.

• Keeping health insurance costs in check: We passed an extension of the successful reinsurance program, which helps stabilize health insurance rates.

CONTACT ME

As always, if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Your feedback is extremely important, and I encourage you to share your input. You can send me an email at sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn or call my Capitol office at 651-296-5649. It’s a great honor to serve as your State Senator.

Finally, if you don’t already follow me on Facebook, please give my page a ‘Like’. This is a great way to stay on top of the latest news from the Capitol! Visit my page here: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorJeremyMiller/.

Sincerely,

Jeremy