17 Days to Go With Low Expectations

Legislature Takes a Break                                      

The Legislature will be in recess this week for the Passover/Easter holidays, returning on Monday, April 18th. The Legislature has been in session for 10 weeks, but has little to show for the hundreds of hours of committee hearings and floor sessions that have taken place. Only one major bill, reinsurance, has been signed into law.   At the top of the list of issues to resolve is what to do with the projected $9.2 billion budget surplus.   Senate Republicans want permanent tax cuts passed while DFLers want the surplus invested in education, health care, housing, and other areas that DFLers say have been underfunded for years. The failure of the two sides to agree last year on how to give away $250 million to front-line workers does not offer hope to Capitol observers that resolving the budget differences will be any easier this year. The two parties have moved away from the middle toward the fringes, where making a deal with the opposition by compromising is viewed as a bad thing. This could set up five weeks of partisanship and no deals before the Legislature adjourns on May 23.                          

Reinsurance Extension Becomes Law!

NAIFA-MN State Government Affairs Chair Corey Anderson testifying next to Senator Julia Coleman, author of NAIFA-supported legislation, before the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.

Quote of the Week
“It was a pile of bull crap on top of a pile of bull crap!” An angry House Speaker Melissa Hortman responding to Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller’s proposal on front-line worker payments.

Quote of the Week: “The insurance model just doesn’t work for health care!” Rep. Tina Liebling, Chair, Health Finance, and Policy Committee  

Quote of the Week: “If the author of the bill will yield for another question, maybe this one will be a little more painful!" Legislator grilling a freshman on his bill on the House floor.

Quote of the Week: “Do I need to unmute myself?” Senator speaking into a microphone at a Senate hearing while also watching on a laptop.

Redistricting Unveiled

Big Picture Issues

Economy Continues to Boom                        

Minnesota’s economy continues to roar ahead after the 2020-2021 COVID slowdown.     Minnesota’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1% in January, well below the 3.8% national average. Minnesota Management and Budget announced on Thursday that tax collections in January were 25% greater than projected. Corporate tax revenues were $642 million more than forecast . Since July 1, the start of the State’s fiscal year, tax revenues are $1.5 billion higher than projected. The State already has a projected $7.7 billion surplus based on the November budget forecast. A new budget forecast will be released in the next month that will guide spending and tax decision-making for the remainder of the session.