Bill HF0004, SF2478

1.1          A bill for an act
1.2          relating to taxation; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution by
1.3          adding a section to article X; requiring that a portion of a projected budget surplus
1.4          be returned to state taxpayers.
1.5          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6          Section 1. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED.
 1.7        An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the amendment
1.8          is adopted, a section shall be added to article X, to read:

1.9          Sec. 9.The Minnesota tax relief fund is established in the state treasury. The purpose
1.10       of the fund is to set aside surplus tax revenue that must be returned to the taxpayers of this
1.11       state each biennium, as required by this section.
1.12       If, on the basis of a November forecast of general fund revenues and expenditures, which
1.13       shall be provided by law, there will be a positive unrestricted general fund balance at the
1.14       close of the biennium, the commissioner shall transfer from the general fund to the tax relief
1.15       fund the amount of the tax relief fund surplus, which shall be the amount, if any, by which
1.16       projected revenues exceed projected expenditures by 105 percent. Projected expenditures
1.17       shall not include any amount required by law to be set aside in a budget reserve account,
1.18       but nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the legislature from allocating
1.19       projected revenues that do not exceed 105 percent of projected expenditures to a budget
1.20       reserve.
1.21       Money in the tax relief fund may only be used to return the tax relief fund surplus to the
1.22       property and income taxpayers of this state through onetime refunds, which shall not be
1.23       taxable under the laws of this state, or to offset the cost to the state general fund for onetime
2.1          tax reductions. No refunds or offsets for tax reductions shall be made for any amount that
2.2          exceeds a property or income taxpayer's liability for tax, or to offset a tax reduction or
2.3          provide a refund to a taxpayer whose income exceeded $1,000,000 in the year for which
2.4          the refund was provided.

2.5          Sec. 2. SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.
 2.6        The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2026 general election.
2.7          The question submitted must be:
2.8          "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to create a Minnesota tax relief fund that
2.9          must be used to return projected surplus tax revenue to the income and property taxpayers
2.10       of this state for taxpayers with incomes less than $1,000,000?