Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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If you blinked, you might have missed it: The first bill of the 2023 legislative session, recently signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, carries $100 million of tax relief.
You could be forgiven for not noticing because the bill deals with something called "tax conformity." Simply put, the bill aligns Minnesota's tax code with federal tax rules for the first time in years. States depart from the federal code for various reasons, a move that can be necessary for government but typically makes tax filing more complicated. Conformity simplifies those filings, and in this instance, happily, it also should result in tax savings for many Minnesotans.
The bill sailed through the DFL House and DFL Senate on unanimous votes, with action coming early enough that Minnesotans can reap the benefits on their upcoming tax filings.
The bill is another excellent example of what can be accomplished when two sides work together instead of at cross-purposes. Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, praised the bipartisan work that went into the bill and told an editorial writer, "I hope this is a sign of things to come."
The agreement came about, he said, "because for once everybody acted like adults." Garofalo said there actually "are lots of things at the Capitol that everybody agrees on. There are literally hundreds of bills we could do this on." The problem, he said, comes when "these things we agree on, that have to happen, become bargaining chips. People hold on to them to gain some advantage."
Complicating matters, he said, is vastly increased polarization. "We're a more polarized society than we used to be," he said. "The Democrats are far more left, and the Republicans are far more right. It's harder to meet in the middle, and there are growing numbers who just don't want to compromise at all."
