Support Medicaid Not Millionaires Act draws emotional testimony; committee lays bill over

The House Taxes Committee on April 2 received robust testimony and member discussion on House File 2,591, the "Support Medicaid Not Millionaires Act," a proposal from Representative Gomez to add a contingent fifth individual income tax tier that would raise revenue if federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota is cut.

Representative Gomez introduced the bill by citing a U.S. House budget resolution and potential reductions to Medicaid nationwide. "There are almost 200 employees at the Minnesota Department of Health who are losing their jobs," Gomez said in opening remarks, and added that the bill would create a contingent tax tier "sufficient to offset any cuts in federal Medicaid funding that flow to the state of Minnesota."

The bill would add a top marginal rate applied to very high earners: Representative Gomez described thresholds of $1,667,000 for married filing jointly, $1,000,000 for single filers, and approximately $1,300,000 for head-of-household filers. Committee discussion frequently returned to estimates provided during testimony: witnesses and members cited a potential…