Perryman: House Republicans Propose Historic Tax Cuts

ST. PAUL – House Republicans have unveiled a package of bills that, together, would provide nearly $4 billion in tax relief – a state record.

Dubbed the “North Star Comeback,” the plan features $1 billion in one-time property tax relief, eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, and reduces car tab fees. It also lowers childcare costs and provides hundreds of millions of dollars for education at no cost to taxpayers through scholarship-granting organizations.

State Rep. Bernie Perryman, R-St. Cloud, said the package is built around three main components: protecting family budgets, making government work for Minnesotans, and building a world-class economy where businesses can survive and thrive. These proposals, Perryman said, reflect what legislators are hearing across the state as families, businesses, and local governments feel the pinch in today’s economy.

“Between rising prices and our state government’s reckless spending and unnecessary tax increases, Minnesota families and businesses have been getting walloped at every turn in recent years,” Perryman said. “It’s time to deliver some much-needed breathing room and that’s what I’m focusing on.”

Perryman said many of the proposals in the North Star Comeback are common-sense policies that Minnesotans broadly support. For example, several measures aimed at improving government are included, such as modernizing county-administered public service IT systems and dedicating additional funding for fraud prevention. The proposal also expands safe schools funding so that, Perryman said, every student can learn in a secure environment.

House Republicans have made efforts to bring tax-relief proposals forward, only to have House Democrats block them. This includes legislation (H.F. 3127) that would provide a combined $2.05 billion in tax relief for 66,000 Minnesota businesses – at no cost to the state – by conforming to the federal tax code.

House Democrats also have blocked $1 billion in property tax relief to Minnesotans at a time when rates are rising across the state. Perryman said rising property taxes have been caused, in part, by costly, unfunded mandates the former Democrat trifecta imposed on local governments, including school districts. Perryman said it makes sense to use the current, short-term $3.7 billion surplus to provide a one-time rebate to Minnesotans – especially seniors on fixed incomes – who are being taxed out of homes they have already paid for and lived in for decades.

“Minnesotans already are overburdened and our rising property taxes are adding to the problem,” Perryman said. “It’s a shame that our taxes are pricing people out of their homes. We can’t afford to give people who are on the fence another reason to leave this state.”

A bill (H.F. 400) Perryman personally authored to cut health care costs by offsetting state mandates also was struck down by Democrats in the committee process.