Greetings from the district,

The 2021 legislative session is in the books, finally! It’s great to be back home with Janel and the boys, and back in the office at work after months of long days in St. Paul. Much like 2020, it was another strange session. Legislators of both parties worked to complete our work while navigating the changing circumstances of the pandemic. It was challenging at times, but I am proud to say that we worked well across the aisle to finish a comprehensive, bipartisan state budget that will benefit Minnesotans in numerous ways.

The 2-year, bipartisan budget provides targeted investments for education, public safety, economic development, and support for vulnerable Minnesotans. The budget deal also includes support for frontline workers, nearly $1 billion in tax relief, and the termination of Governor Walz’s emergency powers.

Finally, it includes important funding for rail infrastructure and safety upgrades, the Lanesboro Dam, a new program to increase the number of technical and industrial teachers, and the extension of the Historic Tax Credit, all of which will have local significance.

I wanted to take a moment to share details of some of the more notable provisions that are now in law.

Tax relief for Covid-19 assistance: The legislature and governor agreed to a tax bill that provides nearly $1 billion in tax relief for Minnesotans, including full conformity to federal tax rules for the forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and emergency unemployment benefits that many businesses and workers used to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Conforming to these federal rules means Minnesotans won’t have to pay additional taxes on the emergency assistance many of them relied on to keep people on working or keep food on their family’s table.

Support for frontline workers: The tax bill also established a new Frontline Workers Grant program working group to make recommendations on the disbursement of $250 million as a direct cash benefit to frontline workers. COVID relief funds from the federal government can be used to benefit those workers who were put at risk as they continued to work during the pandemic. The working group will be tasked with defining eligible workers and the matching benefit, which the full legislature will then adopt, likely in September.

Historic tax credit: The tax bill includes legislation I authored to extend the Historic Structure Rehabilitation Credit. This is the hugely successful job-creating tax credit that helps rehabilitate historic buildings. A study found that every $1 spent on the tax credit generates $9.50 in private sector economic activity.

Public safety and natural disaster relief: The public safety budget provides significant support for first responders through pay raises for law enforcement officers and investments in training programs to help Minnesotans in the field. To keep Minnesotans safe, there are expansions included for the Violent Crime Enforcement Teams, which investigate serious crimes such as gangs and drug trafficking. The bill includes $30 million for the Disaster Assistance Contingency Account, which is used to help communities across Minnesota recover from natural disasters such as tornados, severe weather, and flooding.

Hometown Heroes program: The public safety budget also creates a new Hometown Heroes program to provide financial support, training, and resources for firefighters. The bill would address the alarmingly high incidence of cancer, cardiac issues, and emotional trauma facing firefighters across the state. Minnesota currently has 22,000 firefighters that stand to benefit from this important health assistance.

The largest student funding increase in 15 years: I am proud of the legislature’s consistent bipartisan support for education, and this year was no exception. The education budget fully funds schools with the largest formula increase in 15 years, emphasizes student literacy, mental health, and supporting teachers of color without burdensome mandates. Total state education aid will reach a record of $20.98 billion for the upcoming two school years — approximately 40 percent of the state’s general fund budget — and close to $22 billion in 2024-2025.

Ending Governor Walz’s emergency powers: In the final days of session, both the House and Senate took a unanimous vote to end Governor Tim Walz’s emergency powers related to Covid-19. Sixteen states had already taken this step, and several more have announced plans to do so in the coming weeks. Minnesotans came together in an amazing way to make it through the pandemic, but the time to end the governor’s emergency powers was long overdue. The legislature will continue working with the governor to handle any urgent issues that may arise related to the pandemic.

Funding for the Preston Veterans Home: The state government and veterans budget provides financial resources to build new veterans homes in Preston, Montevideo, Bemidji. In March, the federal government announced that it would fund the federal share of these homes. These are urgent projects and getting them done now will allow us to maximize the number of veterans we are able to support. I am grateful for the engagement from local officials from the city of Preston, Fillmore County, veterans groups, and countless volunteers. This bipartisan effort is a wonderful way to honor our veterans and their families.

Local rail infrastructure improvements: This year’s transportation budget includes $10 million to fund the state’s share of a significant overhaul of southeast Minnesota rail infrastructure, including communication and signaling, extensions of rail sidings, improvements of at-grade crossings, extensions of yard lead track, and reconstruction and modification of new turnouts and mainline track. The improvements would provide significant freight rail upgrades and further the development of additional passenger rail service between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

Pilot training project: The jobs and economic growth budget included $400K for a Career and Technical Educator Pilot Project, including $250k for Winona State University and $150k for Minnesota State College Southeast. This project will allow these schools to develop a teacher preparation program that results in both a degree and a license for teaching technical education courses so we can get more industrial technology and industrial arts teachers in the pipeline.

CONTACT ME

As always, if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime. Your feedback is extremely important to me 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