Committee approves technical A4 amendment and sends House File 2437 to general register

The Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee on May 7 voted to approve an A4 amendment to House File 2437, the omnibus tax bill, and recommended the bill for placement on the general register.

Chair Torkoson, who called the meeting to order, moved that "House File 2437 be recommended for placement on the general register." The committee then heard presentation of an "A4" amendment from Chair Gomez, who described it as a package of technical changes provided by the Department of Revenue and selected by nonpartisan staff for inclusion.

"The A4 amendment just represents really pretty technical changes that were suggested by the Department of Revenue," Chair Gomez said, summarizing the amendment's components. Gomez outlined items the amendment addresses, including an effective date clarification for an IRA contribution correction, technical changes to the vendor allowance, a definition of "tribal purpose" in a property tax exemption, a clarification that an exemption for the Grand Portage Band is limited to five parcels, repayment provisions for abatements to a land bank, a deadline extension for a Brooklyn Park TIF, and a change to the emerald ash borer aid definition to refer to a state statute instead of a federal provision.

Committee finance staff provided targets and the fiscal frame for the bill. Adrienne, the committee's finance staff member, told the committee the tax-finance target required a reduction of $40,000,000 in the first biennium from the base and an additional $40,000,000 in the tails, for a total reduction target of $80,000,000 from the February forecast base.

Chair Davids, co-chair of the tax committee, described the bill as a bipartisan product and said it addressed requests from members on both sides of the aisle. "With this bill ... Minnesota wins," Davids said, thanking both partisan and nonpartisan staff for their work.

Members approved the A4 amendment by voice vote. After further remarks from the committee co-chairs, Chair Torkoson renewed the motion to recommend House File 2437 as amended for placement on the general register, with instruction that nonpartisan staff make any technical changes necessary to reflect the committee's will. The committee approved that motion by voice vote, moving the bill to the general register.

The committee did not record roll-call tallies in the transcript for either the amendment or the final recommendation; both were approved by voice vote. Committee members also noted that the bill reflected reductions totaling $80,000,000 and that more than 60 tax-expenditure requests totaling over $200,000,000 were considered but could not be accommodated within the target. The committee scheduled its next meeting for May 8 to take up a claims bill.

Votes at a glance: House File 2437 (omnibus tax bill), A4 amendment — approved by voice vote; recommendation to general register — approved by voice vote. Nonpartisan staff were instructed to make technical edits to reflect the committee's intent.