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The Minnesota state legislative session wrapped up in May with a number of historic changes and funding that will impact West St. Paul.
Why it matters: The broader changes include protecting abortion, legalizing marijuana, free school meals, paid family and medical leave, tax credits that will cut child poverty by a third, and much more. They also dealt with a massive $17 billion surplus, resulting in tax cuts—and increases—as they attempted to balance one-time funding with ongoing costs.
- Tax rebates: $260 rebates per filer, including up to three dependents for a maximum of $1,300 (subject to income limits).
- Tax increases: West St. Paul will see a 1% sales tax increase along with the rest of the metro to fund transit projects (0.75%) and affordable housing (0.25%). The gas tax is also tied to inflation, which will mean a 5-cent per gallon increase by 2027.
How’d it happen: When the DFL won a trifecta after the 2022 election with control of the state House, Senate, and governor’s office, they proposed an ambitious agenda. Going back to 1992, it only happened one other time—2013-2014 with DFL control. While the DFL had a slim majority (one vote in the Senate), it allowed them to push past partisan gridlock.
How It Impacts West St. Paul
Here are some of the major changes that could impact West St. Paul.
Direct Funding in West St. Paul
- $6 million: Dakota County will receive $6 million for the proposed mental health crisis and recovery center approved last year.
- $2 million: Dakota County will also receive a $2 million planning and design grant for the next upgrade at Thompson Park. Items in the Thompson County Park Master Plan include a lighted sledding hill, day-lighted creek, and southern picnic shelter overlooking Simon’s Ravine.
- $1.7 million: The bonding bill includes $1.7 million for West St. Paul sewer projects, which will go toward the final lift station.
- $900,000: West St. Paul will get a one time allotment of just over $900,000 for public safety. There’s not a current plan for how this money will be used, though it will likely be discussed in future Council meetings (June 13, 2023 Update: A restructuring plan was approved at the June 12 Council meeting).
- $360,000: West St. Paul will get an additional $360,000 in local government aid (LGA).
- Other: There is additional money for Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) grants to improve sewers, and West St. Paul will likely get some of this money. There’s also $4 million in funding for a skate park grant that West St. Paul could apply for (though no guarantee we’ll get any). Metro Transit will get $72 million for bus rapid transit, some of which will likely be used for the coming G Line on Robert Street.
Education
- Increased funding: ISD 197 will get an additional $1,012 per student next year, which works out to about $5 million or a 6% boost to the budget. It goes up to nearly $1,200 in later years, for another $1.1 million or 1.6%. However, new mandates and inflation eat up much of that funding. ISD 197 expects a deficit of $500,000 next year and more into the future.
- Free lunch: The legislature passed free school meals for all students, regardless of income. While this is likely to have a big impact on families who struggle to pay for meals and the accompanying “meal debt,” there is a complicated unintended consequence. Since all meals are free, there’s little incentive for families to fill out the free or reduced-price meal forms, which are used to determine other funding. It’s unclear what kind of impact that will have, and the legislature has a temporary fix in place. But school districts, including ISD 197, are pushing for a long-term solution.
June 6, 2023 Update: The June 5 ISD 197 school board meeting included a more thorough discussion of legislative impacts to the budget during the review of fiscal year 24 budgets.
Public Safety
- Marijuana: Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize marijuana. So when will the dispensaries open? Not so fast. While possession becomes legal for adults 21 and up on August 1, the regulatory framework for retail stores is going to take a while—like the first quarter of 2025. Local cities can also limit stores to one per 12,500 residents, and West St. Paul is likely to pass whatever measures they can quickly. Police Chief Brian Sturgeon has concerns about regulation and enforcement: “We all knew this day was coming, just a little sooner than I expected,” he said. “I am concerned about the increase in drugged driving incidents as well.”
- Catalytic converters: West St. Paul passed a measure to crack down on catalytic converter thefts and Sturgeon testified in favor of the state legislation that passed. He says it will help, but he continues to push U.S. Representative Angie Craig to take action on the federal level.
- Driver’s Licenses for All: A measure passed earlier this year that allows anyone to get a driver’s license regardless of immigration status. The bill was sponsored in the House by West St. Paul Representative Maria Isa: “I was in high school when those rights were taken away from our village, from our community, from our best friends, from our families,” she said (Sahan Journal). Proponents touted the support of law enforcement, though locally Sturgeon remained silent on this issue. He doesn’t anticipate a big impact in West St. Paul and noted that local police don’t enforce immigration law. He pointed to other states with similar measures that saw a reduction in hit and run accidents. He also thought written and road tests might curb careless driving.
- Gun safety restrictions: The legislature passed several gun restrictions, including a red flag law and expanded background checks. “There were certain instances that my hands are tied when issuing gun permits and the red flag law may have a potential to address some issues that we have seen,” Sturgeon said. “I honestly do not see an impact except in very rare occasions.” He didn’t think new regulations would impact gun violence because criminals aren’t obeying laws anyway.
- No-knock warrants: The legislature also severely restricted no-knock warrants. Sturgeon said the restrictions on no-knock warrants wouldn’t affect current operations (though one was used as recently as last year). Mendota Heights Police Chief Kelly McCarthy, who also chairs the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), has been a vocal opponent of no-knock warrants.
Other Changes
- TIF permission: West St. Paul cleared an obstacle to redevelopment of the former Hy-Vee/YMCA land with legislature permission to pursue tax increment financing (TIF) for the project. The project became ineligible for TIF funding after Hy-Vee demolished the YMCA building. Now that TIF makes the project financially feasible, look for a proposal to come forward this year.
- Crisis pregnancy centers: The Health and Human Services omnibus bill repealed funding for the Positive Alternatives Grant program, which gave $3 million to crisis pregnancy centers as an alternative to abortion. Locally, Guiding Star Wakota received $350,000 of that money annually. Guiding Star Wakota did not respond to our email inquiry, so it’s unknown how this cut will impact their operations.
- Charitable gambling: Changes to electronic pulltabs could have big impacts on local charitable gambling organizations, including South Robert Street Business Association, West St. Paul Hockey Association, and others. Supporters say the electronic pulltabs violate tribal gaming agreements and these changes are court-mandated, while opponents argue it hurts charities and local businesses. The changes could mean a 5-20% drop in income for charities, though there are also offsets including lower taxes and limits on gaming industry profits. Existing games can stay through 2024, so it may be a while before we see the impact.
- Conversion therapy: The legislature banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth, along with protecting gender-affirming care. Since West St. Paul became the sixth city in Minnesota to ban conversion therapy in 2020, the measure won’t have any impact here, other than negating the risk of the city’s ordinance being challenged in court.
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