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Legislative priorities for ag facing uphill battle in Minnesota

A Minnesota lawmaker says providing property tax relief for farmers and necessary transportation funding will be difficult this legislative session.

Representative Jeanne Poppe, Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) Lead on the House Ag Finance Committee, tells Brownfield lawmakers need to find common ground on how to put the more than $900 million dollar budget surplus to use.

“I think the House Republicans are looking at trying to spend (the surplus) on a tax bill that includes tax relief and tax credits.  The Senate Democrats are looking at kind of spreading (those dollars) out more; perhaps doing some in tax relief, some in a transportation bill and some for bonding.”

She says if tax and transportation bills would’ve been done last year, there wouldn’t be a surplus the size of what lawmakers are working with now.

“We’re really playing catch-up, but I think the political philosophies that differ between the Republicans in the House and Democrats will be just very challenging to see if that can be overcome and progress can be made.”

Poppe says with less than a month remaining in the Legislative Session, a greater sense of urgency is needed.

“We are not required at this point to have a tax bill or a transportation bill or even a bonding bill.  There’s nothing that absolutely has to be done, and that is just how it sits.”

With all 201 Legislative seats open this year, Poppe says her fear is nothing on property taxes or transportation funding gets done by the end of the session, and months of finger-pointing by lawmakers will follow.