Inside the Capitol

Larger Surplus Affirms Need to Provision Families

The big news at the Minnesota Capitol is that our state government has a budget surplus for the ninth consecutive year. What was expected to be a $7.7 billion surplus is now up to a record $9.25 billion in excess revenue collection. As can be expected, the debate about what to do with the money has fallen into the usual zero-sum game of income tax cuts versus new spending.

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Minnesota Catholic Conference staff are monitoring a flurry of bills including paid family leave, and a constitutional amendment that would empower judges to create new modes of discrimination based on the ambiguous concept of gender.

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Minnesota has a longstanding policy that certain financial supports are allocated for all K-12 students irrespective of a family’s choice of school, including textbooks, nursing services, transportation, and counseling aid. Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), and an interfaith coalition of nonpublic school stakeholders (Nonpublic Education Partners), advocate to ensure those nonpublic pupil supports are adequately funded and easily accessible.

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State legislators are debating what to do with a massive budgetary windfall – an approximately $7.7 billion surplus. The news of the surplus prompted the Governor and legislative leaders from both parties to voice their spending and tax cut proposals.

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Legalizing sports betting, already a prominent topic of legislative discussion, has been pushed to the front of the 2022 session chatter, with both Republicans and Democrats signaling their support, and Representative Zack Stephenson’s (DFL-Champlin) announcement that he would lead a bill in 2022 to legalize sports betting. His decision matters because he can give the bill momentum as the Chair of the House Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over gambling and gaming laws.

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“Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.” (Mark 13:33) St. Mark reminds us in his Gospel that we know not when the Son of Man will return. We can apply this to our call to be faithful citizens – our call to be advocates for life, dignity, and the common good does not rest. As faithful Catholic citizens, we need to be that alert voice who has been building relationships with their legislators in order to be credible witnesses at any appointed time.

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Adequate shelter is a basic human need, as housing is a cornerstone of family stability and child development and traditionally is one the best avenues for building economic stability and generational wealth. As MCC considers a long-term policy agenda to provision the family and promote family economic security, we are more closely examining issues surrounding housing policies.

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Minnesotans deserve good policies which will naturally strengthen families. Instead, our current payday lending laws allow lenders to charge sky-high interest rates that become a debt trap for borrowers. Pope Francis denounces this modern-day usuary because it takes advantage of people in desperate financial situations. He warns that weakening the family, “poses a threat to the mature growth of individuals, the cultivation of community values, and the moral progress of cities and countries.”

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