State senate forming committee to evaluate impact of GOP megabill on Minnesotans

ST. PAUL — The Democratic-Farmer-Labor-led Senate is creating a subcommittee to study the impact of the Republican megabill signed into law in July.

The Select Subcommittee on Federal Impacts on Minnesotans and Economic Stability will have Republican and DFL members, and will travel around the state to hear from Minnesotans impacted by the recent changes to federal law: farmers, hospital administrators, people reliant on food or medical assistance, and more.

The new law, signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, contains many of the president’s policy and budget priorities: cutting taxes, particularly for the wealthiest Americans; boosting funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and slashing funding for health care and food assistance programs, among others.

“We think it’s important for us to understand from a budget perspective, what the Congress has done, but more importantly, we need to prepare, and help Minnesotans prepare, for what could be a hard economic hit and a lack of stability,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said Tuesday.

The subcommittee will meet weekly beginning Sept. 18, and plans to alternate meetings in St. Paul with visits to affected communities around the state.

The new mandates for major programs are taking effect while the supervising federal agencies are short-staffed, causing a lack of clarity and oversight for the local people charged with enforcing the new rules, said Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, who will chair the committee.

“We need to understand what those unanswered questions are, so that we can help to try to provide some stability moving forward, and work in partnership with the cities, the counties, the school boards, with our farmers and teachers and nurses,” Port said.

Republican Sens. Carla Nelson of Rochester, Jordan Rasmusson of Fergus Falls, Mark Koran of North Branch and Paul Utke of Park Rapids will join Democrats on the committee.

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