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Minnesota legislature likely headed to special session

The director of government relations for Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) believes the legislature is headed to a special session and says many MFU priorities remain in play.

Stu Lourey tells Brownfield the Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, and Governor Walz spent the weekend hammering out a state budget so committee leaders can move forward on targets.

“So now what we’re seeing is those individual bills being negotiated. And the reality is that we’re going to need to go into a special session in order to wrap that work up.”

He says a continuation of the healthcare provider tax is included in the budget, which supports various rural health safety net programs.

Calling the situation fluid, Lourey is confident there will be action on Section 179 tax conformity and property tax relief.

“And in the House, they had a 30 percent increase to the Ag to School Tax Credit, which is a tax credit that refunds owners of agricultural land for school construction bond levies.”

He says the current level is 40 percent.

“Which, according to analysts at the legislature, would mean about $30 million in tax relief over the next couple of years for farmers.”

With the Session scheduled to end at midnight, Lourey says it’s possible Governor Walz calls for a special session that could start as early as Thursday.