| Issue |
The Senate Version |
The House Version |
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Your Choice
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| The Budget Fix |
The Senate is backing a cigarette tax increase, arguing that deeper spending cuts would endanger services and programs, given the actions taken to slice $1.95 billion from the budget earlier this year. Additionally, several business taxes would go up.
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House Republicans have held firm against raising taxes to repair a budget projected to carry a $440 million deficit by June 2003 and a more severe problem that extends into the 2004-05 budget. The House plan draws $325 million from an anti-tobacco endowment and cuts $100 million from state programs and agencies.
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Senate
House
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| Stadium |
The Senate plan relies on an array of new taxes and fees to fund half the cost of a $330 million ballpark. In addition to parking fees, ticket and concession surcharges, and media access fees, the bill allows the stadium's host city to charge a bar and restaurant tax, subject to voter approval. The Senate stadium bill also has a metro-wide tax on licensed sports memorabilia.
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The Minnesota House voted 80-52 in favor of stadium legislation that requires little direct funding from the state, but could raise taxes in local communities to help pay for a new ballpark. A House provision requires baseball to reform its economic structure before any state assistance is granted.
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Senate
House
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| Transportation |
The Senate approved a $5 billion plan that raises the gasoline tax to 26-cents a gallon. The Senate bill raises the gas tax by 6 cents and automatically adjusts it for inflation.
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The Minnesota House spent less than five minutes on a $750 million transportation funding package that doesn't raise the gas tax. It would borrow for road projects over five years. The bonds would be repaid with the natural growth in the fund fed by the gas tax and license tab fees.
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Senate
House
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| Anti-terrorism |
The Senate has unanimously passed an anti-terrorism plan that's leaner and cheaper than the one passed by the House a day earlier. The Senate plan spends $17 million to improve emergency radio systems. Another $4 million would be used to train emergency workers, and reimburse local governments for expenses they incurred related to the Sept. 11 attacks. The radio money would come from a 25-cent monthly 911 surcharge on telephone bills.
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Though the House bill is $22 million, paid for with anti-tobacco money, it spends money on different things. Most of the money in the House bill goes to training and equipment. The House voted to update communication systems with a $26 million expenditure in the bonding bill. One House provision would color-code the driver's licenses of immigrants on temporary visas, which is opposed by some immigrants. And those licenses would expire at the same time as visas.
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Senate
House
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| Bonding |
The Minnesota Senate's bonding bill has a nearly $1.2 billion price tag. It funds building projects at colleges, parks and theaters around the state. The Senate included $8 million for the largest item in Gov. Ventura's proposal - the Northstar commuter rail line between St. Cloud and Minneapolis.
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The $839 million capital investment bill includes construction projects at colleges, universities and state agencies, and repairs to roads and bridges. The House removed money for the Northstar commuter rail project from St. Cloud to the Twin Cities. It also includes fewer local projects and no funding for arts projects like the Guthrie Theater and Children's Theatre Company.
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Senate
House
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