Did you know that Minnesota is one out of just 13 states that tax your Social Security benefits? Is it fair that senior citizens should pay taxes on their Social Security income when they had paid into that system for their entire lives?
Think about it. Here are men and women who, for decades, had money withheld from their paychecks for Social Security, a federal program to provide them with a source of income upon retirement. Yet once they hit retirement, Minnesota’s state government demands a cut of their meager income source. To me, its senseless. Over the years I’ve talked to senior citizens throughout our district and across the state and I consistently hear the same message: we wish we had more money to spend from our Social Security checks. The legislature has taken positive steps towards righting this wrong.
During the 2017 session, lawmakers approved a bipartisan tax relief law that addressed Social Security. It provided nearly 284,000 senior citizen tax filers with tax reductions and eliminated the state income tax on Social Security benefits for 72,000 of them. This session I am once again chief-authoring legislation that would eliminate state taxes on Social Security benefits for ALL senior citizens. My bill, HF26, would benefit nearly 358,000 Minnesotans who would average savings of nearly $1,100 each from the elimination.
I thought last session might finally be the year we ended this ridiculous policy. With a $1 billion surplus, and support from members in both legislative chambers, I was feeling good about the bill’s prospects. Then COVID-19 arrived, and when our focus turned to helping people get through the pandemic, many proposals fell to the wayside – including Social Security tax relief.
To me, senior citizens should not be financially punished, and the State of Minnesota should not be looking at their Social Security income as a revenue stream to collect taxes. State government has many other tax sources to fund government programs, and senior citizens’ Social Security income should not be of them.
As HF26 moves forward in the House committee process, I’ll be sure to keep you updated about its status.
By Tony Jurgens District 54B State Representative
