Will April debates bring May deals? This week at Minnesota Capitol could tell

CATHY WURZER: Hey, it's May already. Monday, May 1. And for the Minnesota legislature, that means its get-it-done time. The clock runs out on the 2023 session in about three weeks. Although, there is wishful talk of an early finish. A completed budget and other unfinished priorities stand between legislators and the exits. Brian Bakst is here with a status check as the legislative session winds down. Hey, Brian.

BRIAN BAKST: Good morning, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: It's tough to know where to start. There's a lot going on here. The Senate takes up its tax bill tomorrow. So we're going to run down some of the major points.

BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, it both cuts taxes and raises revenue. This is the bill that would authorize a tax rebate of about $550 for couples, $275 for single filers under an income limit. And they could get more money for up to three dependents. That's a one-time payment. And it would be augmented by some child and dependent tax credits that are boosted.

More Social Security benefits would be spared from state taxes. Basically, any recipients earning less than $100,000 per year for joint filers and $78,000 for solo filers, they wouldn't see a Social Security tax from the state. It has more money for property tax relief programs and local aid. But it would pull in more money through new corporate tax. Corporations that earn money or have subsidiaries in other countries would have to report more revenue for Minnesota tax purposes, a somewhat untested system that could invite legal challenges.

And I found this exchange last week between Republican Senator Steve Drazkowski and DFL Senate Taxes chair Ann Rest to be illuminating.

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- It's not going to be interpreted or viewed by Minnesotans as an honest tax cut when we're increasing taxes in one area to decrease them in another. It's like whac-a-mole. It's like pulling money out of one pocket and putting them in the other. We've seen this in the past in this legislature. And that doesn't go very well.

- Each person here will characterize it differently. But we often say we're going to do a benefit for one group of people and another group of people pays for it.

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CATHY WURZER: Say, Brian, when it comes to the Social Security exemption, isn't it still short of what a lot of lawmakers, including Democrats, campaigned on last year?

BRIAN BAKST: It is. We heard a lot of calls for a full repeal of the tax ahead of the last election. Expect attempts through amendments to put some DFL lawmakers on the spot. But practically speaking, two things have gotten in the way. Money, because a full repeal would cost more than $1.2 billion in this budget and much more down the line. And philosophy, some DFL-ers, including the House Tax chair, wanted a cutoff line because they said not all seniors faced the same financial stress. And Representative Aisha Gomez says it's better to put money into other programs, including expanded property tax breaks for retirees.

CATHY WURZER: So the tax bill, as you know, is just one piece of the broader budget. And both the House and the Senate have passed their big spending plans for pretty much all the big categories, right-- education, health, transportation. So what comes next?

Well, the House and Senate are on the same page around how much money they put into each area they don't align on all the details. There are fees in some bills that aren't on the others. So get ready for something old fashioned.

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- Let the speaker appoint a conference committee of five members of the House and that the House requests that a light committee be appointed by the Senate.

- The Senate passed a good bill. We passed a good bill. But there's a few things we need to work out. So let's-- we need to go to conference.

- While the Senate passed a good bill, but we passed a better one. But I look forward to conferring with them. Thank you.

- They put the puzzle together just a little differently. We need to get it straightened out.

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BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, Cathy, we haven't had any conference committees until now. Most agreements were worked out ahead of time between DFL House and Senate leaders. Now I'm not saying that things will be hostile or adversarial. You heard the polite tone in the remarks we just played. But it will force the two chambers to air out their differences, hopefully in public.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, conference committees can be kind of interesting. All right, what's also quite interesting at times and has been in the past, the joint session tonight to choose University of Minnesota Regents. For folks not familiar, how does that process work? And really, why does it matter?

BRIAN BAKST: So each lawmaker gets a vote on each of the four regent slots up for consideration. That's one third of the 12-member governing board at the university. Since DFL-ers hold 104 of the 201 legislative seats, they'll have sway over the selections. There are sometimes demographic or geographic considerations that come into play. But the DFL will pretty much drive this decision.

This is a critical moment for the university. Regents are in the process of choosing a new president. They're dealing with a hospital merger that will affect the school's medical program. And they've been trying to mend fences at the Capitol.

CATHY WURZER: So, by the way, is it looking like they're going to get done in time?

BRIAN BAKST: Lawmakers are already further along than they are typically. There's chatter of a finish just a couple of weeks into May. And DFL leaders think that there's a public messaging value in wrapping up before they have to and without the drama of the usual scramble.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, all right. Brian Bakst, thank you.

BRIAN BAKST: You're welcome, Cathy.