As expected, the biggest news this week in Minnesota politics has been the release of Governor Tim Walz’s budget proposal. We’ve rounded up several other updates to give you a sense of what is going on in Minnesota and nationwide.

The Budget

Tuesday saw the release of the Walz administration’s initial budget proposal for the next two years. The fiscal year 2022-2023 budget proposal is $52.416 billion, with additional spending of $1.3 billion. Increased revenue would come from a new fifth tier income tax rate, along with capital gains, foreign income, corporate franchise and cigarette tax increases. These would be partially offset by expanding the first tier income tax bracket and the working family credit. For most committees, the latter half of the week was spent hearing department overviews of proposed budget changes.

Deadlines

The House and Senate this week announced agreement on legislative deadlines for the 2021 legislative session, as follows:

  • March 12 – Committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin
  • March 19 – Committees must act favorably on bill, or companion bills, that met the first deadline in the other body
  • April 9 – Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills

The deadlines do not apply to the appropriations, tax, capital investment and rules committees.

The Census and Redistricting

Typically, the United States Census would have announced enough information by the end of 2020 to determine the apportionment of congressional districts between the states. That deadline was missed, and it was announced this week that the information won’t be available until the end of April. Another batch of data, which includes detailed demographic information that states use in redistricting, is not expected to be available until August, months after it is usually available.

While the Minnesota legislature is tasked with re-drawing district lines, this delay means the information won’t be available until after the legislature adjourns its regular session for the year. Thus, the legislature would not be able to complete its duty until the legislature re-convenes in 2022 unless a special session is called.

Is Civil Unrest a Disaster?

Legislators debated this week whether or not a state disaster fund should be used for civil unrest. Following the extensive property damage in Minneapolis and St. Paul after the death of George Floyd, Gov. Walz tapped an existing disaster fund typically used for natural disasters to partially reimburse damages. Senate Republicans are advancing a bill that would expressly prohibit this in the future, with Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont) explaining, “I’ve heard over and over again from greater Minnesota, from my constituents: ‘Please do not pay for this out of our taxpayer dollars.’”

Vaccines

The Minnesota Department of Health has said that the state is set to see vaccine doses increase by 16% for the next several weeks. While more than 200,000 Minnesotans aged 65 or older signed up this week for a vaccine lottery, fewer than 5% of them will be able to get the vaccine in the next week. Expressing concern that the state isn’t adequately prioritizing those most at risk of death, the Senate Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care held a hearing this week urging for quicker vaccination of the 65+ population. The state has yet to give any indication of when they will provide guidance on vaccination efforts for essential workers outside of the healthcare and education sectors.

January 29, 2021