MN Government Updates 04.28.2021

Minnesota Senate Passes Tax Bill

Today, the Minnesota Senate passed the Omnibus Tax bill 39-26.

Several key initiatives include full conformity to federal tax rules for the forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans many businesses used to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a bipartisan compromise allowing those who need relief most to exclude a portion of their pandemic unemployment benefits from their taxes.   

The bill also lowers statewide property taxes for job creators by increasing the statewide property tax exclusion from $100,000 to $150,000.

Other provisions of the bill include:

  • The bill indexes the K-12 credit and K-12 subtraction to inflation.  
  • The bill extends the Angel Tax Credit by $10 million, which encourages investments in startup companies focused on high technology, new proprietary technology, and other groundbreaking fields. 
  • The bill helps struggling hospitality businesses by providing a temporary sales tax exemption to restaurants for materials, supplies, and equipment used to adapt to COVID-19 guidelines, as well as a temporary tax credit for brewers and retailers for liquor spoilage caused by COVID-19 restrictions. 
  • The bill extends the Historic Structure Rehabilitation Credit, to help rehabilitate historic buildings.
  • The bill establishes a new in-home childcare provider property tax credit to address the childcare shortage in Minnesota and incentivize more people to join the profession. The credit for providers will be equal to 50% of the net tax amount owed on the property for the current tax year.  
  • The bill emphasizes affordable housing and workforce housing with a new tax credit to bring private money into the marketplace. Through various property tax reductions, the bill also incentivizes low-income rental development.  

With both the House and Senate passing different tax bills, legislative leadership will appoint members to a conference committee to iron out the difference between the two bills.

Minnesota Department of Health Briefing

This afternoon, officials from the Minnesota Department of Health conducted a media briefing with reporters to update the public on the spread of COVID-19 and discuss COVID-19 vaccination.

Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Department of Health

  • Commissioner Malcolm reported 1,514 new cases of COVID-19. This state’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases now stands at 572,025.
  • Just under 24,500 COVID-19 lab tests were processed yesterday.
  • 22 additional COVID-19 deaths occurred. This is the largest number of daily deaths since early February. The state’s cumulative total of COVID-19 deaths now stands at 7,113.
  • Currently, 641 patients are hospitalized for COVID-19 with 184 in the ICU.
  • The seven-day COVID-19 test positivity average is 6.5%.
  • Over 4,130,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Minnesotans (combination of first and second doses). Nearly 2.5 million have had one dose. Over 1,830,000 have had the complete vaccination series, which is 33% of the entire population and 40% of the vaccine-eligible population.
  • For the week of May 3, Minnesota is expecting:
  • 60,600 first doses and 56,200 second doses of the Moderna vaccine
  • 81,900 first doses and 81,900 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine
  • 12,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Director Kris Ehresmann, Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control Division

  • Director Ehresmann reported that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted on Friday to lift the temporary pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
  • The pause occurred on April 13 after cases of an extremely rare blood clot were reported in a small number of people who received the vaccine. The pause allowed the federal government to review vaccine safety data and provide information to healthcare providers to recognize, diagnose, and treat patients. The data showed the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the very small risk.
  • The blood clot, known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), occurs in seven per million vaccinated women between the ages of 18 and 49. For women 50 years and older and men of all ages, this adverse event is even more rare.
  • Before the pause was announced last week, Minnesota had distributed 9,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to providers, which were stored and can now be used.

Amos A. Briggs | Government Relations
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