Latest news with #JimAbeler
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
End in sight blurry for budget agreements among Minnesota lawmakers
The Brief If the end of budget negotiations was in sight on Monday, it became blurry Tuesday. Legislative leaders hoped for a special session as soon as Wednesday, but that won't happen and a meeting between leaders and the governor got postponed. A whittled-down taxes bill may be one reason. It increases the cannabis tax and removes a tax exemption for data centers. The transportation bill seems much more popular. It includes changes to an e-bike rebate program. It also leaves in place a law allowing motorcyclists to split and filter lanes at low speeds as of July 1, but limits where they can do it. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Progress seemed stalled at the Capitol Tuesday with no announcements from the push to finish off a budget. Not special yet Leaders said Monday they hoped for a special session as soon as Wednesday, but that's not going to happen and they were nowhere in sight Tuesday. Gov. Walz and legislative leaders were set to meet in the afternoon, but FOX 9 heard late word that was postponed. A few legislators now say they don't expect a special session this week and an unpopular taxes bill may be part of the reason. Tax troubles Leaders trimmed the taxes omnibus bill to just a few elements, including a cannabis tax increase from 10% to 15%. It would also eliminate an electricity tax exemption for data centers, which upsets a lot of Republicans. "I think to take away the tax preferences for that is like one of the biggest mistakes of this session," said Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka). "And hopefully they could undo that part of the agreement." Bridging partisan gaps The transportation agreement, on the other hand, may have something for everybody. It renames a couple bridges: One along I-35 in Burnsville in honor of first responders Paul Elmstrand, Adam Finseth, and Matthew Ruge; and another on 10th Ave. SE in Minneapolis as a memorial to former Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic. It also adjusts an e-bike rebate program that almost broke the Internet. "Within 11 seconds, 1% of Minnesota attempted to get an e-bike rebate," Sen. Abeler said. "They were very popular and so the system got full." His update cuts the rebate in half to $750, offers it only to people with disabilities, and creates a lottery if more than 3,000 people apply. The bill does not include Senate language to decriminalize jaywalking and it does not postpone the July 1 implementation of a law allowing low-speed lane splitting and filtering by it does outlaw the move in construction zones, in roundabouts, and in school zones. "It's fairly common sense you wouldn't do those things, but we need to make we put it in state law to ensure that everybody is on the same page," said Rider Academy's Phil Stalboerger, who lobbied to legalize lane splitting. What's next It's not clear everybody is on the same page on all the reaming bills, though. The governor's communications staffers say we should expect to hear more from him on Wednesday.
CBS News
27-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Minnesota GOP lawmakers warn of impact of potential federal Medicaid cuts
Some Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature sounded the alarm about potential federal cuts to Medicaid, which could be at risk after the U.S. House passed a budget framework that includes slashing federal spending. The GOP-backed plan proposes $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next decade. The Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, is tasked with finding $880 billion in savings, prompting concerns about the future of the government's health insurance program supporting millions of low-income people and individuals with disabilities across the country. Last week, before the House narrowly approved the resolution, 14 Minnesota state senators and legislators wrote a letter to Republicans in the state's Congressional Delegation urging them to push back on any cuts, citing concerns about the impact. Medicaid serves 1.3 million Minnesotans, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The federal government covers just over half the costs associated with the program and nearly all of the associated costs for those who qualify under Medicaid expansion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. "There are no other sources to make up the lost federal share beyond severely impacting our seniors and those with disabilities who we serve. This is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable," wrote Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, and 13 others who serve on committees related to human services. DFL U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum published the letter on her X account earlier this week. "You can make a difference in this debate. Please, please do," the GOP legislators wrote in the letter dated Feb. 20. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday the focus is rooting out any waste, fraud or abuse in Medicaid to find savings. He noted that nowhere in the resolution is Medicaid specifically mentioned. "What you're doing with that is you're shoring up the program and you're making sure the people who rely upon that, have it and it's a better program. That's what we're talking about," Johnson said. "You've heard the president say that. You've heard members of the House Republican Conference say that and no one else has said anything else except that Democrats who have ads out that lying about the intention here." WCCO tried to interview House and Senate members who signed on to the letter, but they were either unavailable or declined to speak further on Wednesday. In the Senate Human Services committee on Wednesday afternoon, Elyse Bailey, the budget analysis director with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, said the impact of cuts is unclear. The panel called her in last minute to answer questions about the resolution. "There's really no option, it seems in our quick analysis, that health care isn't going to be touched if they truly do hit that target," Bailey said. Minnesota receives $11.2 billion in Medicaid funding, she added, and that will increase to $14.5 billion by fiscal year 2029. "Last night, every parent who has a kid with a disability, every person who is disabled in this state—like a shock of fear just is living over them," said Sen. Erin May Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, during the committee. "When we have people who are coming to us, who are freaking out, and we have no more answers — the richest man in the world in Washington who is doing this needs to hear this because this is just untenable. It is unsustainable." Abeler said the committee should wait and see more details about what the plan looks like out of Washington. There are more steps in the budget process before anything is final. "Nothing is certainly bad going to happen based upon anything today. And you have a committee here who is deeply concerned, in a totally non-partisan way, about the welfare of the people we serve," Abeler said. Among those enrolled in Medical Association, the state's Medicaid program, 2% are children. Roughly two-thirds of all people served are parents, children and pregnant people, according to DHS. WCCO also reached out to Minnesota's Republican Representatives in Congress — Emmer, Finstad, Fishbach and Stauber — for comment about the letter and did not hear back.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minnesota Republicans ask Minnesota Republicans to spare Medicaid
Minnesota State Capitol. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Senate Media Services. Medicaid advocates hoping to stave off billions in cuts to the program for low-income and disabled Minnesotans have found an unlikely ally: Republican lawmakers. 'Drastic reductions to Medicaid funding have the potential to impact the 1.4 million people we serve and place incredible pressure on our overall state budget,' Sen. Jim Abeler, R.-Anoka, and 13 other Minnesota GOP lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Republican members of Minnesota's congressional delegation, President Donald Trump, and the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 'There are no other sources to make up the lost federal share beyond severely impacting the seniors and those with disabilities who we serve,' the letter continues. 'This is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable.' Republicans in the U.S. House have endorsed a budget proposal that would require cutting $880 billion in funding from programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which includes Medicaid. They intend to use the savings on defense and border spending, as well as tax cuts whose primary beneficiaries would be the wealthiest Americans. Medicaid, which is known in Minnesota as Medical Assistance, serves 1.4 million Minnesotans, or about one-quarter of the population, including 650,000 children and 125,000 people with disabilities. 'Given some of the large numbers coming out of Washington, we are concerned that there is no practical way to accommodate some of the proposed massive reductions and still provide the kind of care these vulnerable people require,' the state Republican lawmakers write. Steep funding cuts would require Minnesota counties to 'raise local property taxes drastically or close services,' they add. The letter also argues Minnesota has been a 'leader in providing access to care and containing costs,' and that dramatic cuts would jeopardize those efforts. 'We need the flexibility to keep doing what works,' Abeler said in a press release accompanying the letter. 'Deep, unworkable cuts are not the answer.' Abeler also criticized the Walz administration for a proposed budget containing smaller spending increases on disability services. Democrats endorsed the GOP lawmakers' letter. 'Thanks to the 14 GOP Minnesota legislators who recognize the damage the U.S. House GOP budget would cause,' said Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota's Fourth District. 'It's wrong to cut Medicaid — a health care lifeline for over a million Minnesota seniors, disabled, and children — to give more tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk.' In the past, Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber has been critical of Trump administration efforts to cut Medicaid. 'I made a promise to protect these critical programs for those who need it most, and it is a promise I intend to keep,' he wrote in a March 2019 press release. GOP Rep. Tom Emmer spoke in favor Tuesday of Republicans' budget resolution: 'I caution the media against echoing Democrats' hysteria on where savings will come from.' Groups opposing the cuts, including the AARP, as well as groups more amenable to them, like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, have pointed out that it would be virtually impossible to hit the budget's deficit reduction targets without cutting Medicaid.
