House votes down exempting Social Security from State income tax!

Last night the Minnesota House, along party lines, voted not to exempt Social Security from the Minnesota State income tax. Minnesota is one of 10 States that taxes it! With a $17.6 billion surplus clearly we are overtaxed. 

The Democrats priorities are skewed, because also last night the Democrats voted to grant drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. Senator Tina Smith commented on this saying, "This means 80,000 people can rest easier tonight."

The way this writer sees it is that Democrats are willing to spend money housing, educating and providing medical and now drivers licenses to 80,000 people here against the law, but can't give a tax break to Minnesota's Senior Citizens.

Governor Walz said they 'have a mandate.' News flash, a one seat majority in the Senate and five seat majority in the House is not a mandate. Governor Walz grew accustomed to ruling by decree during the pandemic and the Democrats feel the same jamming things through on a slim majority. 

Elections do have consequences, but they should be mindful the pendulum will swing back the other way. Remember, there are over 900,000 people over 65 in Minnesota, and many more who retired at 62 and are drawing Social Security. Unlike the 80,000 people in Minnseota illegally, the 900,000 can vote.

See how your representative voted on exempting Social Security from State Income tax (green is for, red is against).

PERA election update

 As many know I was running for a seat on the PERA Board.

I received the following email yesterday:

Gladys Rodriguez (PERA)

Tue, Feb 14, 12:02 PM (21 hours ago)

Dear Wade, 

Thank you for your interest in the PERA Board of Trustees election, and for your investment of time and energy in running to represent the Retired Membership on the Board. Unfortunately, you were not selected. The election results will be certified this Thursday at the PERA Board of Trustees meeting.

 

Thank you, again, for taking the time to participate in the PERA Board election.

 

Warm Regards, 

GLADYS RODRIGUEZ | EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

While I am disappointed the good news is I received over 7,000 votes! I spoke to PERA's Executive Director and he informed me I always have his ear. 

This speaks a lot to the influence of the MNCORA members, we will not be easy to ignore.

There's a lot of work to do protecting our pension and MNCORA has been and will be busy protecting and trying to strengthen our PERA Correctional Pension.

One very important point. The PERA Correctional Plan has over $1 billion in the PERA fund and Correctional Officers and their retirees have no voice. We need a seat at the table!

Thank you to all the MNCORA members, LEO's, PERA members and Retirees who supported me. It was a good showing.

Best of luck to Denny Flaherty who won.

Wade

Multiple inmate overdoses-Morrison Co jail

 KARE 11 is reporting that:

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — Sheriff's and police investigators in Little Falls are trying to determine how six inmates were able to overdose on drugs that somehow got inside the Morrison County Jail. 

Morrison County Sheriff's Shawn Larsen says jail staff were alerted just before 7 p.m. Saturday that an inmate in a housing unit was unresponsive. Staff quickly called for backup and both law enforcement and medical first responders arrived to provide lifesaving efforts including administering Narcan, used in instances of opioid overdoses. 

FULL STORY

DOC orders Ramsey County Jail to reduce capacity

KSTP:  For the second time this week, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) has ordered a county jail to reduce capacity, citing multiple violations.

Friday, the DOC ordered the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center to submit a capacity reduction plan by the end of the day Monday.

It comes after the department said it investigated a complaint regarding multiple licensing rule violations stemming from inadequate staffing levels at the jail. Those violations included the facility’s refusal to take inmates to get offsite emergency medical care.

“As the state’s licensing authority, any risk to the life and safety of those in custody must be addressed immediately,” DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell said. “When the stakes are this high, taking decisive action quickly is a must.”

Full Story on KSTP