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July 14, 2010 Dear Neighbors, I am sending you some information about property tax refunds and the Lifeline, Link-Up programs that provide discounts on basic residential telephone service to low-income consumers. Please continue to contact me with your questions, suggestions and ideas. I always appreciate your input. Sincerely, Sandy State Representative Sandra Masin House District 38A Property Tax RefundsEvery year, thousands of Minnesotans who are eligible for property tax relief don’t take advantage of it. As your legislator, I’m committed to ensuring that all of the people in our district who deserve refunds for their property taxes receive them. Please look over these requirements to see if you qualify, and apply for the refund if you do. This is your money; make sure you get it back!Minnesotans are often eligible for two different property tax refunds. The first is Homeowner and Renter Property Tax Refund Programs (also called Circutbreaker.) To be eligible for this program you must be a homeowner and have a household income of less than $98, 290 or are a renter and have a household income of less than $53,030. Higher income limits apply if you have dependents or if you are a senior citizen or disabled. Your refund will depend on how high your property taxes or rent are relative to your income. The maximum refund for homeowners is $2,350, and the maximum refund for renters is $1,510. The other type of property tax refund that many Minnesotans are eligible for is the Special Property Tax Refund (also called Targeting.) You may be eligible for this refund if you are a homeowner, you owned your home on both January 2, 2009 and January 2, 2010 and the net property tax on your homestead increased by more than 12% and at least $100 from 2009 to 2010. The increase cannot be due to improvements to your home. This refund does not depend on your income. You must also meet the following criteria to receive these refunds:
In addition to these refunds, those 65 and older who own property are eligible for the Senior Citizens Property Tax Deferral Program. This program allows property taxpayers who are 65 years or older to defer a portion of their homestead property taxes until a later time. In this program, the taxpayer pays only 3% of the preceding year’s household income as property tax, and the rest of the property tax is deferred. Taxpayers are still allowed to file for property tax refund and any other property refunds the state may offer, however the amount of any refunds will be applied to the deferred property tax amount. Applications for the program are available in the county auditor’s office or may be obtained from the Minnesota Department of Revenue website at: www.taxes.state.mn.us/taxes/property/forms/crscd.pdf If you have any additional questions you can call contact the Department of Revenue at: (651) 296-3781. You can also check the status of your refund by calling: (651) 296-4444 or visit: www.taxes.state.mn.us/wm/servlets/TaxReturnServlets and click on Where is My Property Tax Refund? National Lifeline and Link-Up Telephone Discount Awareness WeekSeptember 13-17, 2010Lifeline and Link-Up are programs that provide discounts on basic residential telephone service to low-income consumers. It is important in these difficult financial times to get the word out about assistance that is available to help people stay afloat. At least half of eligible consumers nationwide do not take advantage of these telephone discounts. Lifeline involves discounts on the monthly charges, and Link-Up involves a discount on the cost of initiating telephone service. The discount is available for a primary residential telephone, even some wireless phones. The basic federal Lifeline discount is as much as $10 per month, and Minnesota provides an additional discount over and above that. Find out about the Minnesota Telephone Service Discount Programs! There are three programs with one simple application for all three: LINK-UP: A federally-funded discount on telephone installation charges LIFELINE: A federally-funded discount on your monthly bill TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE PLAN (TAP): A Minnesota-funded discount on your monthly bill To qualify for these programs:
Posted 07-14-2010 June 30, 2010 Dear Neighbors, This Report contains several interesting topics: - Staying in Touch - New Laws Effective July 1, 2010 Budget Data Practices Veterans of Foreign Wars Day Draw Blood for DWI Predatory Offender Registration - Other Laws Passed in 2010 Small Businesses Entrepreneur Resource Network Small-Employer Health Insurance Public Safety Domestic Abuse Changes Now Law Kelsey Smith Act Ignition Interlock Enacted Other DWI Changes Revoking Health-Related Licenses Syringe, Lancet Stewardship Program Utility Shutoffs Must Be Posted Elections Primary Change Absentee Ballots Health Care Rules on Cancer Chemo Co-Pays Safe Drug Disposal Act Reform Government Collaboration - Women in Government Conference Staying in Touch with Today’s Issues: We live in a technical age where most information is readily accessible on the Internet. The Web connects us to each other with such immediacy that it is easy to keep up on the issues of the day and follow any political process or debate of interest. For instance, information on current legislative activities is available through the House Session Weekly, a free, weekly news magazine published by the House Public Information Services Office. This weekly provides brief synopses of bills under consideration by the Legislature and a listing of House bills being introduced. If you are interested in subscribing to the Session Weekly, I encourage you to sign up at the House Web site at http://www.house.mn. Here you can also receive daily updates about House activities at the Session Daily Web site. For those of you who already receive the House Session Weekly news magazine in your mailbox weekly during session, please note: At the end of every biennium, postal regulations require the Session Weekly mailing list to be purged. If you want to receive Session Weekly next year, when the legislative session begins Jan. 4, 2011, you will need to renew your subscription. You can do this by filling out the renewal form contained in the final 2010 Session Weekly issue, by calling House Public Information Services (651-296-2146 or 800-657-3550), or go on line to our webpage at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/subscribesw.asp#bymail. Legislative activity does not come to a standstill during the interim, and electronic updates are available through a number of resources: • Session Daily, a nonpartisan electronic news source, will be updated as necessary during the interim at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/sdaily.asp; • follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/MNHouseInfo; • House and Senate committee and legislative commission schedules will be updated at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/calendarday.asp?jday=all; and • some meetings will be broadcast live on the web. Information is available at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/liveweb.htm.  Topics List
New Laws Effective July 1, 2010 Budget The new budget erases a projected $3 billion budget shortfall through spending cuts and payment delays. Schools, veterans services, and nursing homes did not receive a direct cut. SSHF1/SSSF1/CH1 Topics List
Data practices When a citizen files a data practices complaint against a state agency, it often takes months or years to resolve. A new law aims to speed up the process. The new law establishes a new process through the Office of Administrative Hearings when filing a complaint under the Data Practices Act. HF2899/SF2354/CH297 Topics List
Veterans of Foreign Wars Day A new law designates May 28 as Veterans of Foreign Wars Day in Minnesota. HF2674/SF2475/CH244 Topics List
Who can draw blood for DWI In an effort to expedite the process for police and the courts, a new law will allow medical personnel trained in a licensed hospital or educational institution to withdraw blood to determine the presence of alcohol, controlled substances or hazardous substances. HF2881/SF2817/CH225 Topics List
Predatory offender registration Predatory offenders will be prohibited from listing homeless shelters as their primary or secondary address. Under current law, if an offender registers as homeless, they are required to check in weekly with local law enforcement; however, by using the shelter as a primary or secondary residence, the offender does not need to check in weekly, even if they are not staying at the shelter. HF3174/SF2862/CH251 Topics List
More New Laws Passed in 2010 Small Businesses Entrepreneur resource network Establishes a website where entrepreneurs can access both public and private resources to help establish and grow their businesses. Went into law May 1, 2010. HF2839/SF2758/CH283 Topics List
Small-employer health insurance Explores the possibility of increasing the employee cap on the small-employer health insurance market from 50 to 100 employees in order to provide more health care options at a lower cost for small businesses. New law will go into effect on August 1, 2010. HF2163/SF1905/CH370 Topics List
Public Safety Domestic abuse changes now law Strengthens domestic abuse protections for victims as well as penalties for offenders with several new provisions. New law will go into effect on August 1, 2010. HF2608/SF2437/CH299 Topics List
Kelsey Smith Act The Kelsey Smith Act will require cell phone service providers to disclose their customers’ call location information in emergency situations in order to better help law enforcement find missing persons when time is critical. This law will go into effect on August 1, 2010. HF2639/SF2470/CH342 Topics List
Ignition interlock enacted; other DWI changes In order to keep people who drink and drive off state roadways, a new law requires use of an ignition interlock device for repeat offenders and others. HF3106/SF2741/CH366 Topics List
Revoking health-related licenses Bans chiropractors convicted of criminal sexual conduct from regaining their licenses. HF3634/SF3147/CH349 Topics List
Syringe, lancet stewardship program Requires manufacturers of sharps and pharmaceutical companies that make drugs used in the sharps will be required to share information on their websites about their plans for the proper disposal of sharps and lancets. New law will go into effect January 1, 2011. HF1372/SF1323/CH286 Topics List
Utility shutoffs must be posted Ensures tenants are notified before utilities are shut off due to a landlord who has fallen behind on paying utility costs. New Law went into effect on April 1, 2010. HF3259/SF2875/CH210 Topics List
Elections Primary Change State Primary Election is moved to second Tuesday in August to ensure military personnel serving overseas can vote. HF 2552/SF2251/CH184 Topics List
Absentee Ballots Makes changes as a result of 2008 US Senate recount to ensure uniform election procedures. HF3111/SF2622/CH194 Topics List
Health Care Rules on cancer chemo co-pays Prohibits health plan companies from charging higher co-pays or deductibles for oral chemotherapy drugs versus those that are injected or infused. This will help cancer patients afford need and less intrusive chemotherapy medication. New law will go into effect on August 1, 2010. HF1847/SF1761/CH326 Topics List
Safe Drug Disposal Act Provides for safe system to collect unused prescription drugs to prevent drug abuse by young people and reduce waste. New Law went into effect on April 11, 2010. HF1217/SF1568/CH223 Topics List
Reform Government collaboration New law aims to increase collaboration between all levels of government in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs. New law went into effect on June 1, 2010. HF2840/SF2511/CH319 Topics List
Women in Government Conferences At the end of May, I attended the Women in Government’s Jobs Evolution: States’ Response to Emerging Economic Challenges Conference and their 17th Annual Midwestern Regional Conference. I welcomed the opportunity to participate in an agenda that concentrated on key interest areas: healthcare, higher education, energy, environment, transportation and economic development. Women in Government Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit, bi-partisan organization of all female state legislators across the country which provides educational resources, expert forums, networking and leadership opportunities. For more than twenty years, Women in Government has hosted outstanding conferences that offers a blend of analysis from nationally known experts, networking and discussion groups for an exchange of ideas and clear action steps. This bi-partisan forum of exchanging ideas from state to state is invaluable because it encourages and stimulates discussion of the best possible outcomes for the future. Fortunately, the exchange of ideas continues long after the conferences adjourn on the Women in Government web site (www.womeningovernment.org). Topics List
Sincerely, Sandy State Representative Sandra Masin House District 38A Posted 07-02-2010 Dear Neighbors, Welcome to my website! I use these pages to communicate with you on a regular basis. Please see my previous letters on the click below. We are still in session at the legislature, trying to resolve the budget and other issues, until Monday 5/17/2010. Thank you! Sincerely, Sandy State Representative Sandra Masin House District 38A Posted 05-15-2010
About Sandra MasinA mother of three grown children, with more than twenty years of engagement in local politics and community events, Sandra is well known to many. If you haven't yet met Sandra, click here to find out more... |
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