As chairman of the House Taxes Committee, and chief author of the $1.35 billion House tax relief bill, I’d like to thank your State Rep. Peggy Bennett for her support of this bipartisan legislation that will provide needed tax relief to middle-class families across the state.

Rep. Bennett recognized that with yet another state budget surplus, Minnesotans are being overtaxed and that lawmakers needed to find ways to allow Minnesotans to keep more of what they earn.

With Rep. Bennett’s support, the House was able to pass a plan that would provide relief to Minnesota’s senior citizens, working families, college students, farmers and Main Street business owners just to name a few. This includes an elimination of Social Security taxes for thousands of seniors and a first-in-the-nation tax credit for college graduates struggling with student loan debt. In addition, we’ve included a major new initiative that provides tax relief to farmers and agriculture property owners who bear a disproportionate share of school bond levies.

In all, well more than half of the $1.35 billion tax relief bill that was supported by Rep. Bennett would be allocated to the middle class Minnesotans.

Moving forward, the House and Senate will work on a compromise that we hope Gov. Mark Dayton will sign.We know you’ve been waiting long enough for tax relief. Simply put, we would not be at this point without Rep. Bennett’s support of this common sense legislation, and your readers should know that she is fighting hard to prioritize tax relief for hardworking constituents in Albert Lea and across the district.

Greg Davids

chairman

House Taxes Committee