By Rich Larson, News Director
The global pandemic and the recent winter storms across Texas have combined to create some concern about price gouging in both Congress and
the Minnesota State Legislature.
Last week, Minnesotans were surprised to hear that natural gas prices were on the rise due to the catastrophic energy grid failure in Texas. Some people in Texas are receiving monthly energy bills of $10,000 and more, while Minnesota energy bills could increase by as much as $400 over the course of the year.
Senator Tina Smith has called for a federal investigation into the pricing of natural gas, and State Representative Todd Lippert said he has signed a letter supporting that investigation.
Lippert, a member of the House Climate and Energy Committee said he attended a joint House and Senate Energy Committee meeting on Friday to discuss the spike in natural gas prices, and price gouging in general, where he heard testimony from Xcel Energy president Chris Clark, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Katie Sieben and Joseph Sullivan of the Public Utilities Commission.
He said situations like this should not happen, and when they do they must be looked into.
“We need to make sure that when we go through a cold snap that the price of natural gas that we all depend on can’t just go through the roof. It hurts all of us. So, we need to find out what’s going on and make sure we’re getting to the bottom of it.”
Representative Lippert said Minnesota is one of a handful of states without a price gouging law on the books. Governor Walz signed an executive order last spring prohibiting the sale of goods or services for more than 20% above the price before the pandemic. Lippert said there are currently anti-price gouging bills in both the House and the Senate.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Lippert can be heard here.
Draheim says tax hikes are not necessary
Last week Minnesota Management and Budget released its latest budget forecast for the rest of the state’s fiscal year and the next biennium. The forecast predicted a budget surplus of approximately $1.6 billion. In his proposal for the next budget Governor Walz said, despite the surplus, he believes taxes need to be raised on annual incomes of $1 million and higher, but Senator Rich Draheim disagrees with that.
Pointing out that the State has had budget surpluses for the past four bienniums, Draheim said that the state has enough revenue, and we need to prepare for the 2024-25 biennium, for which MMB is projecting a deficit.
Draheim said he estimates the state has received at least $20 billion in federal aid and that number could reach as much as $40 billion. He believes that money has “propped up” the state budget, and there could be a false sense of security. Raising taxes at this point, he said, would only hurt the state economy.
In fact, with regard to the federal aid, he said the legislature needs to ensure that businesses do not pay taxes on the emergency relief they received, particularly on money received from the Paycheck Protection Program.
“So we have some conformity we should do with the federal government. And conformity means just matching what the federal government is doing, with the PPP loans that helped out businesses. We have to make sure that we don’t have to tax people that got that, because they are barely hanging on.”
A bill to exempt businesses to pay those taxes has been introduced into the Senate. Democrats are saying that tax relief should also be given to those who received unemployment benefits.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Draheim can be heard here.
Council still seeking public opinion
The Northfield City Council will meet tonight. Among the items on the agenda is a presentation on the concluded 2018-2020 Strategic Plan. The
report will serve as a foundation for the next strategic plan, which the council will begin to discuss this month.
The Strategic Plan focuses on the next three years, 2021-2024, offering pointed guidance in accordance with the City Charter and the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Rhonda Pownell has said the plan should clearly articulate the priorities and goals that the council should work on. Assessing those priorities, she said, and developing the next strategic plan is vital to Northfield’s continued economic and social development.
To that end, the city is asking for input from the public. The city recently emailed a survey to Northfield residents, asking how the city services are perceived and rated. The Mayor is encouraging one and all to fill out the survey. She said the privacy of everyone taking the survey would be protected.
“You will have to set up a log-in and give us some information, but your name and that information will not be shared with the city council or, I believe, with city staff. There is a protection there. But we really do value public input. And I just really want to encourage people to take advantage of these opportunities when they’re available.”
The survey is available in English and Spanish. Links to the survey can be found on the city’s website. Paper surveys are available at the Northfield Public Library and Motor Vehicle Services at City Hall. The City Council meeting begins at 6pm.
