Latest news with #LindseyPort
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Cannabis products in Minnesota would see a tax hike from 10% to 15% under budget agreement
Minnesota's legal adult-use cannabis market isn't operating yet. But before the first retail sales even begin, cannabis flower and edibles could see a tax hike under a bipartisan deal approved by legislative leaders. The 2023 law greenlit recreational marijuana with a gross receipts tax of 10% on sales at licensed businesses. The budget agreement announced Thursday would raise it to 15%. The approved tax hike would be in addition to the state sales tax rate of 6.975% and any local sales taxes. This applies to low-dose, THC edibles derived from hemp, too. "There are not across-the-board tax increases," said House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. "There will be a small increase on the tax on cannabis, that is almost right-sizing it. It was very low. We were one of the very low tax states on cannabis." Cannabis taxes vary from state to state, with rates from as low as 6% to as high as 37% in Washington, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation. Advocates and businesses fear a 15% surcharge would make legal cannabis too expensive and therefore allow the illicit market to thrive. "When we legalized adult-use cannabis, we talked about how this is not a cash cow," said Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, one of the authors of the cannabis law, during a conference committee hearing Friday. "It is not an answer to the state budget's concerns. I am frustrated to see it is being used in that way because it will not be successful." Port blamed Republicans for the change instead of raising revenues elsewhere. It comes as the state's regulatory agency is nearing market launch. June 5 is the date set for a lottery to choose who will receive one of the capped license types, like growers and retailers. Other types of businesses that received approval from the Office of Cannabis Management and don't fall under certain categories can move forward and prepare to begin operations, like securing a location cleared by local governments. The budget framework approved by leaders on Thursday has not yet been approved by the Legislature. Lawmakers will work through the weekend to finalize the details of the next two-year spending plans.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A last-ditch effort to reform Minnesota zoning fails in Senate committee
The Minnesota State Capitol, April 24, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) A legislative effort to make it easier and cheaper to build houses and apartments is all but dead for the year. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and advocates entered the legislative session with an ambitious but carefully-crafted set of bills to remake Minnesota's zoning and land use rules, opening up construction of more homes and apartments across the state. The coalition's chances of passing meaningful zoning reform likely ended Thursday when four Democrats and two Republicans in a Senate committee voted against an amendment that contained a bare-bones version of the package. 'We really brought what we felt was the bare minimum of what we needed to do to help people — we hear them, we understand that they're asking for more housing options, that they're asking for more affordable housing,' said state Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL- Burnsville, who chairs the Senate housing committee. 'This was our opportunity to do a small fraction of that.' Minnesota is facing a housing shortage, and low supply means higher prices for buyers and renters. The 'Yes to Homes' coalition says local government regulations are restricting building. Cities often dictate minimum square footage, garage sizes, parking spots and lot sizes, for instance, driving up costs and incentivizing developers to focus on expensive single-family home construction. New apartments, even if proposed in an area zoned for multi-family development, often face long permitting processes, contentious public hearings and negotiations with city planners that result in fewer units and higher costs for future residents, developers say. Last year's attempt to pass legislation rolling back city control over where housing is built and what it looks like failed after intense opposition from city leaders. In the leadup to the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers met with lobbyists for city governments to hash out their differences. The result was a more incremental approach to zoning reform, with four bills targeting different aspects of the interaction between housing developers and municipal governments. Despite lengthy negotiations, city governments still weren't on board with the legislation, and city government leaders and their lobbyists turned out to committee hearings this year to voice their concerns. The bills passed their respective housing committees with overwhelming bipartisan support despite city opposition. But the bills never made it to their next stop: the state and local government committees. They stalled out as cities lobbied in opposition and the bill authors failed to secure the necessary votes. As a last-ditch effort to get some significant housing policy passed in the Senate, Port brought an amendment Thursday to a bill in the Senate State and Local Government Committee that contained a few of the key policies. The language would have allowed cities to require up to one parking spot per residential unit; prohibited cities from requiring the establishment of an HOA as a condition of development; barred cities from imposing aesthetic mandates, like the type of siding or features like columns, decks, balconies or porches; and required cities to establish and follow an administrative review process for housing construction permits in areas zoned to allow that type of development — i.e. not forcing developers into a protracted negotiation process, or requiring city council approval, for developments that follow existing zoning rules. It did not incorporate some of the more controversial policies endorsed by the coalition, such as ending single-family zoning statewide, or requiring cities to allow apartment buildings along transit corridors and in commercial areas. Lawmakers voiced support for city leaders and were reluctant to take power from their constituent cities against their will. 'This shifts power towards developers, not communities,' said Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, who voted against the amendment. She also cited the bill's 'one-size-fits-all' approach, and its failure to guarantee the creation of more affordable housing, as reasons for voting no. The cities in her district, where the average rent is over $2,000 per month, are already doing good work on housing affordability and should retain control over housing development, Gustafson said. Port said she and other bill authors will bring similar legislation again next year. 'I think these bills, in some version, are inevitable,' Port said. 'It is really up to the cities and the city lobbying groups to decide how much fight they want to put into this — how much reputational damage, or how much they want to put their reputations on the line fighting this.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota lawmakers hope to make housing cheaper this session
The Brief A bipartisan group of legislators has come together to address what they call a "housing crisis that's only getting worse". Minnesota is short of almost 115,000 homes for what the population needs. That number has more than doubled in 6-7 years. The shortage means mortgages and rents are expensive, and a lot of people are priced out of homeownership. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota needs more places for people to live, and legislators hope that seven bills they're proposing can address the problem. Shortage worsens: A housing shortage is driving up rents and mortgages, generally making it more expensive to have a roof over your head. A bipartisan group of legislators is taking another swing at improvements, but that doesn't mean it can just sail through. The situation was similar last year, and nothing happened at the Capitol. But now, both Democrats and Republicans are calling it a crisis that's only getting worse. Double trouble: Construction hasn't completely stopped, but Minnesota has a housing problem. In 2018, Minnesota had 50,000 fewer housing units than the population needed. Almost seven years later the housing shortage is about 115,000. "Every moment we wait to take action, we fall further behind," said Sen. Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), one of the leaders of the failed 2024 push and the 2025 push as well. Homeownership delayed: What does that do to the American Dream? It's delayed. The median age for a first-time homebuyer is now 38. "We hear it all the time," said Rep. Michael Howard (DFL-Richfield). "Housing costs too damn much.""The median cost of a new single family home is over $540,000," said Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, (R-Fergus Falls). "And that puts homeownership out of reach for many working Minnesotans." Older homes can be less expensive, but the median price is still over $350,000. Try, try again: Attempts failed last year to pass a large housing bill addressing many of the same issues. They seemed to have bipartisan support, but got no Republican votes in committee after strong opposition from cities. "A lot of the cities are now finally realizing they've got a housing problem on their hands," said Rep. Jim Nash, (R-Waconia). "And for the first time that I can remember, they're coming to us and saying, 'yeah, you're right. We know that we're not building enough homes'." Lucky seven: Seven bills aiming to remove barriers, headlined by bills making it easier to build less expensive single-family homes and to force cities to allow more multifamily home construction. They also want to erase parking mandates across the state. The bills aren't finalized yet, so the folks who opposed the big bills last year haven't weighed in yet.
