A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

We are back from the legislative break. This past week we had two floor sessions that were mainly procedural. The two committees that I serve on, Taxes and Transportation, heard some bills this week.

In the Taxes Committee, we are still waiting to hear what the supplemental tax bill conformity will look like. Governor Dayton is expected to release the bill language by today. We will take up those provisions and testimony in committee next week. I look forward to delving into the details of the bill and working with my colleagues to find a thorough solution for Minnesotan taxpayers. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: April 13, 2018”

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

Today marks the end of the first phase of the legislative session with the second deadline. We start our Easter/Passover/Spring break this week and will come back on April 9^th to finish the 6 remaining weeks of session. We have tackled the state contracts and pension bills on the floor and discussed the constitutional amendment regarding dedicated revenue to transportation in committee. I was happy to co-author a bill (S.F. 3503) to provide a sales tax construction exemption for to the City of Minnetonka for a new police and fire public safety facility serving the district. This week I also had hearings on two bills, my Uniform Athlete Agents bill (S.F. 2399) in the Commerce Committee and a technical change to Sophia’s Law to ensure the intent of the law is clear before this boating season (S.F. 3380) in the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee. Lastly, I was part of a press conference on gun safety reform and I am hopeful that with your help we find the courage to have a bi-partisan debate on this most important issue affecting us all. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 29, 2018”

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

We have reached our first deadline this week! Bills need to have gone through the committee process in one body, House or Senate, in order to become viable to meet the 2^nd deadline next week in the remaining body. This week I had a hearing on my bipartisan tax bill to provide disaster relief to those impacted by the disasters of Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria. More details are found below.

Finally, the Senate passed a bill to attempt to resolve the MNLARS issue. As a member of the Transportation Committee, I was not supportive of this measure because I believe it falls short in either providing the tools necessary to adequately manage the progress or finding a long term solution to the ongoing system failures. I welcome your thoughts on this particularly troublesome launch. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 23, 2018”

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

This week we witnessed Governor Dayton’s final State of the State address in a joint session of the Legislature. Finally, today we received the Governor’s supplemental budget (click here for more information), which contains his tax recommendations regarding federal conformity with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) (click here for more information). In his recommendations he includes tax cuts for over 2 million Minnesotans in addition to some business conformity provisions. Notably, the proposal moves away from using federal taxable income, replacing it with federal adjusted gross income. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 16, 2018”

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

Committee hearings are starting to gain traction and we prepare to take bills on the Senate floor. I am focusing most of my time meeting with constituents, introducing bills and tackling the tax conformity issue. I’ve been meeting with CPAs, the business community and many individuals who are hoping we conform to certain federal tax provisions in order to simplify and make the tax filing experience more palatable for taxpayers in our state. I will be providing as much detail as possible to allow you to follow this complicated process forward.

Thank you,

Melisa

P.S. The nonpartisan House Research Department posted this tax calculator that could prove helpful: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/inctax.aspx Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 9, 2018”