Faribault Lawmaker Hopes to Keep Owatonna in His District
John Jasinski, State Senator from Faribault representing District 25B is on the current redistricting committee of the Minnesota legislature. He conceded today on the KDHL AM Minnesota program the house and senate probably won't agree on a plan so the courts will once again determine the house and senate district maps.
Jasinski says he could lose Owatonna. "I may pick up Northfield. It could shift in different ways. If I lose Owatonna it'll be tough. Owatonna has been, I've really gotten to know a lot of people down in Owatonna it's really become kind of my stronghold of where I get a lot of support."
"So it's going to be really tough if Owatonna comes out of my district. I know a lot of people in Owatonna are concerned. Lots of change might be changing. Representatives Petersburg and Daniels do a great job in this district but Senator Draheim has Northfield now. He may shift to the northwest and I might pick up Northfield. There are just a lot of things in play. I hope by the end of February we know we are at so we can move on with what we want to do."
Concerning the $7.7 Billion dollar state budget surplus Jasinski wants to implement permanent tax cuts. "We want to get people money in their pockets from every paycheck, every week, every month, every year from here on going on. Not just a gimmick. A one-time check given out by the Governor. Actually he named it by himself as Walz checks." Jasinski continued, "That just show you the ego that our Governor has right now with what he's had with his executive powers the last two years. That's our money. That's not his money. To name them 'Walz Checks' is just crazy. So we're very frustrated with that. It's all a campaign gimmick. He knows his ratings are down so we want to give permanent tax cuts and not just a gimmick check."
I pointed out a believe there is no such thing as a permanent tax cut because another legislature can put them back into place. Jasinski stated, "Obviously that can happen but a one-time check like this of $175 dollars or $350 dollars is, what's that going to do for a person ? How is that going to help Minnesota ? We want to get rid of social security taxes for seniors. Tax cuts across the board so every single paycheck you're seeing more money in your pocket. I think legislators in the future will understand how important that is and what that does for our economy by putting money back in people's pockets and letting them spend it versus the government."
A podcast of the program can be heard below.
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