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Legislature passed tax hikes for transportation
House and Senate Sunday passed a sweeping bill that includes new taxes to help pay for roads and bridges
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota lawmakers Sunday passed the biggest transportation bill since 2008, including $650 million that will be used to leverage $7.8 billion in federal dollars set aside for qualified projects in the state.
The measure includes tax increases that drew fire from Republicans, but Sen. Scott Dibble, who chairs the Senate transportation committee, reminded his colleagues that this part of the budget is separate from the rest of state government.
“There is no surplus in transportation in Minnesota. Sources and resources we rely on to support transportation are outside of the General Fund and they’re stagnate or in decline.”
The bill, if signed by Gov. Walz, will for the first time index the state gas tax to inflation in highway costs starting in January of 2024. Democrats say that will translate to 3 cents per gallon in January, and less than a penny per year after that.
The bill also imposes a three-quarter cent sales tax increase in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area dedicated to transit and roads. It also features 75-cent retail delivery fee on orders over $100. All food, whether grocery items or dishes made in restaurants, would be exempt from the new fee.
“We have not had a bill like this ever in Minnesota that is so comprehensive, so forward looking,” Rep. Frank Hornstein, the Minneapolis Democrat who leads the House Transportation Committee, told KARE.
One of the projects that will employ state funding to match a larger amount of federal infrastructure dollars is the Northern Lights Express passenger rail service from the Twin Cities to Duluth.
“We match every single dollar the federal government is going to give us for roads, bridges and transit with this bill.”
Republicans warned against investing state money in intercity rail projects rather than road work that can expand highway capacity and relieve congestion.
“If you want to get to Duluth and take more time than it takes to drive there, the train will actually do that for you!” Rep. Kurt Daudt, a Crown Republican and former House Speaker, told his colleagues.
Republicans acknowledge transportation is supposed to pay for itself, and that most of the state’s general fund surplus isn’t available for under current law for roads and bridges. But they argue that the Democrat majority could change that if they made it a priority.
They asserted there’s no reason to raise any taxes when the state began the session with a record $17 billion budget surplus. They often point out the actual size of the surplus is larger, if one removes estimated inflation.
“We’ve got the nearly $19 billion surplus, so Minnesotans were really looking to have some of that money returned to them. You would never expect to have tax increases, right?” Sen. Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks, the Senate Minority Leader, told KARE.
Earlier in the day Sunday the Senate wrapped up work on the Omnibus Tax Bill, which has $3 billion in tax breaks and at least $1 billion in new taxes.
That includes an expansion of the number of Social Security recipients who are exempt from paying income taxes on their benefits. Couples who earn less than $100,000 and individuals who make less than $78,000 wouldn’t have to pay taxes on their Social Security checks.
The package includes rebate checks of $260 per person, or $520 per married couple, plus $260 for each child up to three children. So the maximum check would be $1,300 for a family of five.
But that’s means tested, too. It would only be available to couples earning less than $150,000 per year and single filers who make less than $75,000 per year.
The bill also includes new childcare credits, that start at $1,750 per child for households making $38,000 or less. It would gradually phase out to zero for families making $96,000 or more.
“Republicans would’ve given the money to everyone including millionaires, billionaires. We chose to give money back to childcare workers, nursing home workers, people who are raising children,” DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman told KARE.
The revenue raisers in the bill would come mainly from larger companies with a corporate presence overseas and from higher income earners. That includes a new 1% tax on all net income from investments — annuities, royalties, interest, and other gains that don’t come from a business. It excludes gains from agricultural land sales.
With a 17-member jury finally seated after an arduous selection process, the prosecution and defense on Thursday took the first step in building their cases.
MANKATO, Minn. — With an arduous jury selection process finally in the rearview mirror, both prosecutors and the defense began laying out their cases Thursday in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged with four felony counts – first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense – in the death of 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury, his live-in partner and mother of Favel’s two children.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi’s decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
Opening statements began shortly after 9 a.m. in Blue Earth County District Court, chosen as the venue after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled Fravel’s trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
The state was the first to address the jury panel, with prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz immediately painting a picture of Maddi as a successful career woman and mother who had become increasingly frustrated with Fravel and his inability to contribute as their seven-year relationship crumbled.
Prokopowicz told jurors that Kingsbury had met a man, Spencer Sullivan, on a dating app and as their relationship grew Maddi decided to end her partnership with Fravel. Kingsbury contacted her landlord and said she was terminating the least, and that she had found a townhouse where she and the children would live.
The state also laid out a list of electronic and video evidence it says proves Fravel killed Maddi and engaged in an elaborate coverup, also indicating there will be testimony on alleged abuse in the relationship.
Fravel’s defense team began its opening statement with a geography lesson of sorts, with attorney Zach Bauer naming Winona and the small communities of Rushford, Choice, Mable, and the highways and county roads that run through them. Bauer asked jurors to think about the locations as they listen to testimony and absorb the evidence presented in Fravel’s trial.
The defense then began painting its own picture of the relationship between Fravel and Kingsbury, saying like many couples they had disagreements and there were times Maddi would move out the home and other times when Fravel would go home to stay with his parents.
Unlike prosecutors – who said Kingsbury’s relationship with Spencer Sullivan was getting deeper – the defense told jurors about texts from Maddi to her sister saying she was going to marry Adam Fravel. Ultimately, Bauer told the court, Kingsbury and Fravel agreed to separate but were doing so in a cooperative and planned manner.
Bauer told jurors that Fravel cooperated with police after Kingsbury disappeared, saying his defense team would show that investigators ignored evidence and facts that suggested his innocence. He indicated they will challenge the prosecution’s version of how and where the body was found, and who may have had access to the remote site not far from Mabel.
The defense also said they will call a neighbor who will testify they never heard any fighting or signs of discord in the relationship between Kingsbury and Fravel.
The 16-year-old girl was last seen in September in north Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenage girl.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) shared Thursday on X that 16-year-old Tivona Cardenas was last seen in late September in north Minneapolis.
Cardenas is 5 feet 2 inches and 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Minnesota BCA.
If you have any information on the teen’s whereabouts, call 911.
St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host the event Sunday to raise money for colon cancer awareness and screenings.
ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host runners, walkers and supporters on Sunday for the 20th annual Get Your Rear in Gear event.
The fundraiser boosts money and awareness for colon cancer and the importance of screening for it. Attendees can enjoy music, snacks, a giant inflatable colon, timed 10K and 5K races, untimed 5K and one-mile memory walk and a Kids’ Fun Run.
Chris Evans, the president of the Colon Cancer Coalition, and William Pierce, a caregiver who lost his mom to colorectal cancer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about the event and the importance of screening.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,550 Minnesota residents will be diagnosed and 830 could lose their life to colon cancer in 2024.
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