Essay
My bill, known as the Governor Tim Walz Rebate Check Act of 2023, would be extremely helpful for a few reasons. The main reason of course being how beneficial it is to Minnesotan citizens. This bill gives 2,200 to people who have paid their taxes which would go a long way in helping people pay things like debt and rent. According to Apartments.com, the average rent price in Minneapolis, Minnesota is 1,347 so even in big cities this can pay off rent with tons left over for bills and debts. The amount given to each citizen of course uses outdated figures and will have to be adjusted to our current surplus but nevertheless with even small amounts of money it would still be helpful.
Since it uses only half of the state’s surplus, it leaves plenty of money left over for other bills that may be passed. In December of 2023, the budget surplus was estimated to be 2.4 billion. The actual amount may end up being more or less than that. With half of that being paid back to the taxpayers, this would leave behind plenty of money to cover other bills and to be kept in reserve in case that we ever need tons of money.
Another benefit is that this is a very cost effective program. Since it is just giving money to people, there isn’t much space for taxpayer money to be wasted. Usually, American state and national governments waste tons of taxpayer money on errors, misused gov. credit cards, duplicate programs, and so on. The amount given to make this bill happen is already included on the bill so we know how much will be spent on it and if extra spending happens, it’ll be easier to detect and end since the amount that we know it’ll cost and the amount actually spent will be different. This will help less money be wasted.
A negative of this bill is that it takes up a ton of money that would normally be saved up or spent on other bills. Bills can cost a lot of money if passed, of course that isn’t a surprise since some of them have a lot of expensive things planned out. One downside of my bill is that it takes up money that the bills that other representatives may want to pass. We can’t use money that we don’t have. Other than bills, states often save their money for emergencies in rainy-day funds. Sometimes this money is invested in low-risk investments to accumulate as well. If my bill is passed, half of the state surplus can’t be used to be saved up or spent on other bills that it would have otherwise been used for.
References
Hutton, Z. (Spring, 2024). Where Do States Stash the Cash in Rainy-Day Funds?. Folsom, CA: Governing. https://www.governing.com/finance/where-do-states-stash-the-cash-in-their-rainy-day-funds
Lee, J. (April 18, 2023). The Federal Government wastes at least $247 billion in taxpayer money each year. Here’s how. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/18/heres-how-the-federal-government-wastes-tax-money.html
Mohr, J. (December 6, 2023). State’s budget forecast projects surplus – but warns future less certain. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota House of Representatives. https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/18041
(October, 2024). What is the average rent in Minneapolis, MN? Atlanta, GA; CoStar Group. https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/mn/