Friends and neighbors,
I am back at the Capitol for the second week of Special Session where the Senate and the House and the Governor are negotiating the final budget bills. Since last week, much has been agreed to and we have managed to pass a few bills off both Floors. There still remains a good amount of work before July 1st, but I am doing all possible for my part to get this completed.
Throughout negotiations, some good policy is being included that will help many Minnesotans. For example, included in the Higher Education budget is the “Student Borrowers Bill of Rights, which would require student loan services operating in Minnesota to be licensed through the Department of Commerce, which would have the authority to suspend or revoke licenses of services that mislead borrowers or misrepresent payments. The amount of debt young people, specifically students, take on, just to get an education, is too much already; misleading servicers often prey on these young folks looking to start their adult lives and create a labyrinth of confusion for student borrowers. This bill will put in place much-needed protections for these Minnesotans who are striving for a better future. I am so pleased to see this get into the final budget and am hopeful that many Minnesotans will benefit from it.
As many of you know, we are glad to see that I-94 has been under construction in our area for quite a while and still needs continuous, new upgrades for it to live up to the demand. I am pleased to see that in the Transportation budget, MnDOT will construct the 6-lane expansion from Albertville Co Rd 19 to Monticello. It is scheduled for construction in 2023 if everything goes according to schedule. This is the portion with the world-recognized MN Road Research lanes, so it is a bit more complicated to construct. This stretch has a cost of $27 million on top of the additional millions MNDOT has set aside for this critical section of expansion.
These adjustments, safety precautions, and upgrades will be completed without increasing your taxes in any sector of Minnesota life. The improvements that will be made will be felt throughout our community and by the thousands of drivers that take that highway each and every day. We have needed this for so long and I look forward to seeing the end result.
Another area the Senate has had success on during budget negotiations is that of tax increases – you won’t see any! Since Regular Session started in January, there has been an ongoing battle between the Senate Republicans and Governor/House Democrats saying Minnesotans deserve tax cuts to their proposal for over a Billion in tax increases. Plus, the House and governor pushed for tax hikes/new fees in nearly every sector of Minnesota life. We just said no. The last thing Minnesotans need is for more money to be taken from their checkbook to the government checkbook. A one-time over $1 billion in surplus and federal funds of $2 Billion is enough!
Important to our businesses to survive is that this tax bill conforms with federal guidelines on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and unemployment benefits, it also lowers statewide property taxes for job creators, extends the Angel Tax Credit, and addresses student homelessness. This is an incredible bill for Minnesotans and will help bring us back from a particularly difficult year.
As Special Session continues, know that I remain committed to fighting for your needs at the Capitol in any way I can. I encourage you to reach out to my office with any questions, comments, or concerns. My email is Sen.Mary.Kiffmeyer@Senate.MN or you can call me at 651-296-5565.
Sincerely,
Mary