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Gov. Tim Walz wants to use the state's budget surplus to immediately give Minnesota families a $2,000 rebate check to help battle inflation. The governor's proposal would put money in people's pocketbooks to help pay for groceries, gas and other necessities.

These direct checks to taxpayers are the best way to help Minnesotans now with rising costs. As the House Tax Committee chairperson, I strongly support a tax rebate and included one in the House omnibus tax bill because it makes sense to use a short-term surplus and one-time money to quickly offset inflation.

It pains me to see my Republican colleagues saying "no" to rebate checks and using this issue as a political football. Helping Minnesota families battle inflation is not an "election-year gimmick" or a sign of "desperation" as some of my colleagues have claimed. Nothing could be further from the truth, and they know it.

Please let me set the record straight.

At least 10 states led by governors on both sides of the aisle, including five Republicans, have enacted rebates or one-time tax cuts this year. Gov. Walz is pushing for rebate checks because he understands that Minnesotans' budgets are being squeezed and they need help now. It's an idea he's strongly pushed for since January, and his advocacy for a tax rebate has never wavered. According to RealClearPolitics, Walz has led in every poll conducted in this race, so this is no "election year desperation."

Walz also negotiated a bipartisan deal to provide permanent tax cuts, such as eliminating the state tax on Social Security benefits and providing more than $250 million in property tax cuts this year. My GOP colleagues walked away from the deal that would provide more than $1 billion in annual permanent income tax cuts.

Republican lawmakers are making this complicated when it should be simple. The governor wants to send money back to Minnesota taxpayers. If that's something my Republican colleagues are supportive of, this should be an easy thing to get done now.

Let's put partisan politics aside and help Minnesotans cope with the rising costs of inflation. The rebate checks offered by Gov. Walz is the best way to quickly get much-needed surplus dollars into the pockets of Minnesotans.

Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, is a member of the Minnesota House and chair of the House Taxes Committee.