By Senator Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls)
The 2017 legislative session was historically-productive, bringing tax relief for seniors, students, farmers, and small business owners, the largest investment in roads and bridges in decades, and changes to limit the state bureaucracy. With the 2018 legislative session getting underway this week, my colleagues and I unveiled our “Advancing Minnesota” agenda for this session – a set of priorities that will drive this session. These priorities include tax conformity, infrastructure investments, improving school safety, fixing the state’s failed driver’s license system known as MNLARS, and other issues.
Federal tax reform has created a unique opportunity to further address Minnesota’s tax system and one of the highest priorities this session is protecting Minnesotans’ wages from any inadvertent increase in taxes resulting from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The new federal tax bill gives us a chance to explore ways to grow our economy to remain competitive with neighboring states.
In exploring ways to bring Minnesota’s tax structure into the 21st century, we will focus on three things:
- Protecting wages – the federal tax changes lower rates for 90% of Minnesotans, but exposes more income to state income taxes. Without legislative changes, Minnesota families and small businesses will overpay $459 million this biennium and $1.1 billion next biennium.
- Simplicity – the federal tax changes make filing taxes simple for nine out of ten Minnesotans, but without legislative changes, Minnesotans will be filing their federal taxes on a postcard but hiring an accounting firm for their state taxes.
- Growing the economy – the federal tax changes are already making an impact on the U.S. economy. Without legislative changes, Minnesota will fall behind other more tax-friendly states such as Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota.
Another top priority this session is investing in school safety by freeing up resources for school districts to make decisions that best serve their needs. Some of the proposals we will look at this session include funding to help districts with security improvements for their schools and changing state regulations that restrict fire evacuation procedures in local schools.
One of the most far-reaching issues I expect will come up this session is the complete failure of MNLARS, the state’s new licensing and vehicle registration system. The administration’s handling of MNLARS – which has been underway since 2008 and cost more than $90 million – has been an utter disaster. If you talk to car dealers, deputy registrars, and customers across Minnesota, there is serious frustration, and it is not getting better. The state agencies responsible for the new system have not demonstrated they can address these problems, and I expect legislation to move quickly to ensure Minnesotans are not caught in the crosshairs for much longer.
Other initiatives for the 2018 session include removing burdensome regulations that are contributing to the decline in access to childcare in Greater Minnesota, funding mental health crisis centers to reduce the impact on jails and emergency rooms and getting people the treatment they need as soon as possible, battling back against the opioid epidemic, and making health care costs more transparent.
Finally, I expect a comprehensive bonding bill to pass this year. This will be a “bricks and mortar” bonding bill that will invest in sustaining and building infrastructure throughout the state, and will focus on maintaining state assets and investing in essential local needs such as road and bridge safety projects, wastewater treatment upgrades, and asset preservation. Mental health crisis centers will also receive the funding necessary to better respond to emergency situations. The bonding bill will draw from both state and local funding sources.