Talking Points: Will you receive a discount check?

MINNEAPOLIS — You may have heard that both Gov. Time Walz and Republican lawmakers are proposing hefty taxpayer cutbacks. But will you actually get one?

As Esme Murphy reports in this week’s Talking Points, the answer is maybe and maybe not.

Most taxpayers need no reminder: Minnesota has a budget surplus of $17.5 billion. It was Governor Walz who first proposed “Walz checks” last year during his political campaign. Republicans ridiculed the idea.

The proposal didn’t hurt Walz, as he had asked Dr. Scott Jensen handily defeated in the November election.

Recently, in the legislative session, Republicans proposed their own rebate checks, saying everyone should get a rebate check regardless of income: $2,500 for joint petitioners, $1,250 for individual petitioners.

Walz again proposes discount checks, but they have income limits. The governor’s proposal would give $2,000 to joint petitioners who make less than $150,000 a year. Single filers earning less than $75,000 get $1,000.

With both Republicans and the governor supporting some form of discount control, you probably think your chances of getting one are pretty good. But it’s complicated.

The problem is that the DFL-controlled House and Senate are not fully on board with discount checks. Senator Bobby Joe Champion is the President of the Senate and was a guest on WCCO on Sunday morning.

“Because we have to think about other things as well, that’s one of the things that we think about in real time. We also have to think about it in the context of everything else, not just in isolation. I think when you silo these issues, I think that’s where things get lost,” he said.

Lawmakers and the governor have just over two months to find a possible compromise. The legislature ends in mid-May.

You can watch WCCO Sunday Mornings every Sunday at 6am and 10:30am with Esme Murphy and Joseph Dames