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Major tax relief bill clears Minnesota House
House Democrat focus tax breaks on helping working families hit hardest by pandemic economy.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota House Thursday night passed a sweeping tax policy bill aimed at providing $3 billion in tax relief, and raising more revenue from corporations and the wealthiest taxpayers.
It includes a mix of rebate checks, tax credits, aid to local units of government, and other policies Democrats say will make the state’s tax system fairer and sustainable.
“This bill constitutes the largest tax cut in Minnesota history,” Rep. Aisha Gomez, the House Tax Committee Chair, told her colleagues during Thursday’s debate.
“It contains targeted tax cuts. It puts money in the pockets of Minnesotans who most need it.”
Her bill calls for $275 rebate checks to individuals, $550 checks to married couples, plus an additional $275 for each dependent up to three. The rebates would be limited to couples who make $150,000 or less and single filers who make $75,000 or less. More than 2 million taxpayers would qualify for some type of check.
The tax bill also shields more Minnesota retirees from tax liability on their Social Security benefits.
Joint filers earning $100,000 or less and single filers who earn $78,000 or less would be totally exempt from state income taxes on those federal government checks. That would exempt 75% of Social Security recipients from being taxed on that income, compared to 52% of current retirees who aren’t taxed on those checks.
The bill creates a revamped childcare tax credit program, enabling lower income families to receive up to $1,175 per child. The bill also expands the K-12 Education Child Credit to $1,500 per child.
There’s also $100 million in direct aid to local governments, which is intended to slow the growth of property taxes in those communities. The measure would also boost property tax refunds for homeowners and renters.
The renter’s refund program would be rolled into regular tax returns, removing the need to apply for that refund separately.
“Right now, there are over 100,000 low-income renters who are eligible for property tax refunds, who, just because the timing, the paperwork, the complications and the barriers, leave that money on the table,” Gomez explained.
Republicans leveled blistering attacks for what’s not in the bill, namely full exemption for Social Security benefits.
“Anyone who can afford to leave the state of Minnesota in their retirement does,” Rep. Bjorn Olson of Fairmont told fellow lawmakers.
“That’s why less than 50% of Minnesotans pay taxes on their social security today.”
GOP leaders say people on both sides of the aisle campaigned on full exemption during the 2022 election cycle.
“That was a bipartisan campaign promise. All of us, when we were campaigning in our districts, everyone heard that from the doors,” Rep. Kristin Robbins of Maple Grove told reporters Thursday.
“DFLers and Republicans made that promise and it is not being kept.”
The bill would also create a fifth income tax tier, with a rate of 10.85% that would be applied to that portion of a couple’s income in excess of $1 million and $600,000 for individual filers.
Rep. Robbins said the fifth income tax tier, if it becomes law, will drive more people away from a state that already has a reputation as a high tax state.
“That would make Minnesota have the fourth highest income tax rate in the country. And just to give you some perspective we are uncompetitive at all the tiers. Our lowest tier of 5.35% is higher than the highest tier in 24 other states.”
Republicans contend the tax bill, in its current form, is transferring wealth from the middle-class taxpayers who created the surplus to lower income families.
“People who have not been paying taxes in Minnesota are getting a lot of new income, so this is spending through this refundable tax credits and is not helping the middle class that’s been paying the tax all along.”
Gomez said it’s the legislature’s imperative to help those most in need, and that includes how tax policy is designed.
“This bill is going to improve lives. It’s going to make our tax code more simple, and more fair. It focuses on families and on children who are in poverty and seniors who are struggling.”
Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
MCGREGOR, Minn. — Search and rescue efforts are ongoing for a woman who went missing in rural Aitkin County last week as multiple local and state agencies and volunteers continue to comb through the area north of McGregor.
In an update posted to its Facebook page Tuesday morning, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office said Tonya Yarmakov, 23, still hadn’t been located since her family reported her missing from Savanna State Park on Sept. 4. Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
According to the sheriff’s original press release, Yarmakov was in the park outside McGregor with her family the morning she went missing. The release said family members allegedly told authorities they left Yarmakov alone on a dock as they went fishing, and around noon, saw her get up and run away.
The statement said the family launched their own search before reporting her missing around 1:30 p.m.
Yarmakov is 5 feet tall and has dark brown hair. The sheriff said she was last seen wearing a rainbow tie-dyed t-shirt, gym shorts, black shoes and black headphones.
According to police, crews have logged hundreds of hours searching for Yarmakov thus far, but have not turned up any leads.
If you have information about Yarmakov’s current whereabouts, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office urges you to contact them at 218-927-7435 or call 911.
While the school building was impacted, police say no students or staffers were hurt in the incident.
DULUTH, Minn. — Students and staffers at a Duluth elementary school encountered a bit of unexpected – and unwanted – excitement Friday morning when a vehicle smashed through a wall of their gym.
Northern News Now/KBJR reports that the incident unfolded at Myers-Wilkins Elementary on N. 8th Ave. E. just before 8:30 a.m. Duluth police told the station that two people were inside the vehicle when it ran a stop sign, went through the intersection and down an embankment, then careened through the gym wall.
No one inside the school was hurt, but the two people in the car were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Duluth Public School District tells Northern News Now the gymnasium will be closed for an undetermined time while engineers examine its structural integrity.
Meanwhile the school is on a secure protocol, meaning access to the building is limited while students go about their day.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs.
BREMERTON, Wash. — A child and their mother were attacked by a river otter at the Bremerton Marina Thursday morning.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), a woman and her young child were walking on a dock around 9:30 a.m. when the river otter pulled the child into the water. The woman said the child was underwater for a few moments before resurfacing.
WDFW officials say the otter kept attacking the woman while she pulled the child out of the water.
The child was treated at a hospital in Silverdale for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs. The woman was bit on the arm.
“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” said WDFW Sergeant Ken Balazs said in a prepared statement. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”
According to WDFW, the otters in the marina will be “trapped and lethally removed” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, then tested for rabies.
River otter attacks are rare, and WDFW officials advise against instigating any close encounters. There have been six documented human-river otter incidents in Washington state in the last decade.
“When we do see this on the rare occasion that it does occur, it’s for territoriality or protecting its pups. If it’s a female, protecting its pups,” said Matt Blankenship with the WDFW.
And while many think of them as cute, curious creatures. They can cause serious injuries.
Jen Royce, who lives in Bozeman, Montana, was attacked by a river otter last summer. The damage was extensive.
“I had really large bite wounds on each cheek. A really big gash on this left side of my eye here.. luckily it didn’t get my eye.. it bit through my nose,” Royce said.
She wants to urge others to be cautious around the animal.
“My main goal is to spread awareness. I don’t want people to go out and kill otters. That’s not what this is about. It’s about trying to be more prepared in nature,” Royce said. “Not to let your guard down and hopefully, if someone learns something from my story. I feel like that’s why I’m still here.”
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