New state lawmakers have quite a bit of work to do in the short time between Election Day and the start of the next legislative session in St. Paul on January 3.
“I’m already in touch with a lot of my colleagues,” said Senator-Elect Judy Seeberger (DFL, District 41). “So, we’re having some conversation so we can hit the ground running on January 3rd and we don’t waste a lot of time on start-up things.”
DFL lawmakers hope to really make some ground in the new session with a majority in both the house and senate and a newly-announced forecasted budget surplus of $17.6 billion.
“I’m just looking forward to getting the money where it needs to go. It’s this enormous pot of money, and we saw it stall out at the end of last session, which is really a shame,” said Seeberger. “I’m happy we can finally get the money and put it where it’s supposed to go and do something with this fund that’s just sitting there.”
One quick application of the money may be to eliminate or make significant changes to Minnesota’s social security tax, something Seeberger and many other candidates campaigned on.
“I heard from a lot of seniors that in a difficult economy it really didn’t help to have this social security benefit taxed,” she said. “I definitely heard it loud and clear when I was out on the campaign trail.”
Seeberger represents Washington County and lives in Afton.
