Column: Capitol Conversations, Rich Murray

Persistently high unemployment is one of the top reasons Minnesota continues to face historic budget deficits. When people are out of work, they are not contributing to our tax coffers and are not purchasing goods and services.

Since I was elected, I have been working hard to improve the job climate in Minnesota so that more jobs can be generated in our communities. While these reform efforts are being implemented, many of the unemployed continue to struggle to make ends meet. Unemployment insurance provides an important boost to help these individuals until they can get back on their feet.

To help strengthen this core safety-net program, I am chief-authoring unemployment legislation that will expand and extend eligibility for many who remain out of work (HF 103). The first section of this bill restores the opportunity for adult children of business owners to receive unemployment benefits to the same extent as any other employee. Under a change enacted last year, employees of a family-owned business who are the owner’s children are limited to receiving a five-week maximum of state unemployment benefits. Previously the limitation had only applied to the owner’s spouse, parent or minor child.

Should my bill become law, the statutory language in place prior to July 1, 2010, would be reinstated and unemployed adult children who work for their parents would be eligible for benefits the same as other unemployed workers. It is estimated that several hundred business owners, particularly those operating in the housing industry or performing other seasonal work, have had to lay off employees who are children.

One of my campaign themes was fairness in government and clearly this law is not fair to those business people who hire their sons and daughters to work for them. If they pay premiums on their family members, they should receive the same benefits.

The second part of my bill provides unemployed Minnesotans federal unemployment assistance for an extra 13 weeks! This program is 100 percent fully funded by the federal government.

Currently, Minnesota applicants may be eligible for 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits, 47 weeks of federal emergency unemployment compensation and 13 weeks of federal/state extended benefits. This change is expected to provide 55,000 Minnesotans with extended benefits and would bring $160 million in federal funding into our state.

I’m hopeful the legislature and governor will take quick action on this important bill. I will continue to work hard to improve the economic climate in our state. In the meantime, this temporary assistance will help those who are waiting for the job climate to improve.

Standing up for

our local community

Last week, the Minnesota House passed a bill that would reduce our state’s $6.2 billion budget deficit by $1 billion. My initial business instinct was to address the budget deficit head-on and support this bill. Yet, I received consistent feedback from local leaders that they were concerned about the disproportionate impact this bill could have in Greater Minnesota, particularly regarding LGA funding for our cities. I am also a member of a newly created “Rural Caucus” which has already spent many hours discussing the importance keeping the entire state strong — metro and rural.

At the end of the day, I honored the request of our local leaders and voted against the bill. Now, I am committed to aggressive dialogue between state and local leaders to find a solution to our budget deficit, while maintaining the financial integrity of our local communities. Our community leaders must recognize that local government of the future will be much different than local government of the past. We need to have the discussion of how to reform LGA and make it fairer to the Greater Minnesota communities that truly need and depend on it. It’s time for us to move forward and be more efficient with our state and local resources.

Thanks for visiting

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who has contacted me at the Capitol during the past month. I have made it a high priority to personally respond to every constituent letter and e-mail I receive. Some days I have a dozen notes to respond to, and others I have well over one hundred, so this process can be a bit time consuming. So if you’ve sent an e-mail or letter recently and have yet to hear back from me, know that it is on my to-do list, and I will respond to you soon!

Have a question or concern? Constituents in District 27A including communities in Freeborn and Mower counties can write to me at 439 State Office Building, 100 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155. Or call me at 651-296-8216 or e-mail me at rep.rich.murray@house.mn.

Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, is the state representative for House District 27A.