Committee update - Minnesota State Legislature

Senate Highlights
Rebate bill okayed
Minnesotans will get another sales tax
rebate check and farmers will get
additional aid under a bill granted
preliminary passage at the Thurs., Feb.
10, floor session.
The rebate bill, S.F. 2400, sponsored
by Sen. Douglas Johnson (DFL-Tower),
sets forth a schedule for determining the
amount of the sales tax rebate based on
income and provides aid to at-risk
farmers amounting to $4 per acre
multiplied by the percentage of risk
borne by the farmer for that farm
operation.
In his opening remarks on the bill,
Johnson said, “It is appropriate that the
first major tax policy bill of the session
is one which returns almost $500
million to Minnesota taxpayers.” One
of the main features of the bill, Johnson
said, is that it makes sure those left out
of the 1999 rebate are included in the
2000 rebate proposal. The bill provides
a total of $476 million in rebates and
aid; $453 million goes to Minnesotans
in all walks of life and targets farm crisis
relief of $23 million to 34 counties,
Johnson said.
Johnson said that the bill broadens
the eligibility for the rebate to more
citizens. Under this year’s rebate
2
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proposal retirees receiving social
security and pensions and low income
individuals receiving assistance are also
included.
A series of amendments dominated
the balance of the debate on the bill.
Sen. Leonard Price (DFL-Woodbury)
offered, and the body adopted, an
amendment to appropriate $4 million to
the Dept. of Revenue to cover the cost
of processing the rebates.
Sen. Dick Day (R-Owatonna) offered
an amendment to include anybody that
made a dollar and filed income tax.
Specifically, Day said the amendment
was aimed young people under the age
of 18 who work. Johnson argued against
the amendment and said, “We are
expanding the rebates further than the
governor proposed but Sen. Day’s
amendment could jeopardize the federal
tax status and the amount of dollars
available. The amendment failed on a
21-39 roll call vote.
An amendment offered by Sen. Pat
Pariseau (R-Farmington) was adopted
on a 60-1 roll call vote. The amendment
extends the deadline for farmers to
apply. Sen. Kenric Scheevel (R-
Preston) offered an amendment striking
the definitions of which farm operations
qualify for the farm payment and mak-
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ing all farms in the state eligible for the
payment. Scheevel said that last year
prices were at all time lows and that the
greatest fear is whether livestock
farmers will be able to continue because
of environmental rules. The amendment
failed on a 20-41 roll call vote.
Sen. Charles Wiger (DFL-North St.
Paul) offered an amendment targeting
the farm relief more narrowly by setting
income limits. Johnson opposed the
amendment and said, “The targeting of
the relief according to income is much
more complicated than the amendment
portrays.” The amendment failed on a
voice vote.
Sen. Deanna Wiener (DFL-Eagan)
also offered an amendment to further
target farm relief by setting an income
limit of $100,000. The amendment also
failed to gain adoption.
Sen. Sheila Kiscaden (R-Rochester)
began a discussion of the needs for
repairs and maintenance in higher
education facilities and state government
facilities by offering an amendment
to set aside $400 million of the
budget surplus for spending on deferred
maintenance projects. The amendment
was ruled nongermane, but members on
both sides of the aisle echoed Kiscaden’s
concerns about further delays in repair
projects. Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-
Thief River Falls) said that the MnSCU
system alone needs $100 million per
year just to keep even and Sen.
Lawrence Pogemiller (DFL-Mpls.) said
that K-12 public schools also need a
great deal of funding for deferred
maintenance projects. Kiscaden said,
“We have talked about being statesmen
and about being responsive to our
constituents, but we also have the
responsibility to be prudent regarding
our state resources over the long run.”
Kiscaden pointed out that delays in
maintenance lead to further expense
over time.
Members then granted preliminary
passage to the sales tax rebate bill on a
62-2 roll call vote.
Members of the Senate also gathered
for an extremely brief floor session
Mon., Feb. 7, in order to process bill
introductions and committee reports.
Unicameral debate
The Senate Election Laws Committee
and the House Governmental Opera-