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Freshman State Representative Max Rymer, R-North Branch, visited the Chisago County Board last week to summarize, and take feedback on, the outcome of the legislative session.  He agreed when county commissioners complained that counties should expect financial burdens due to state actions.   “My concern,” Rymer said, “is we balanced the budget on the backs of schools and counties.”  He continued, saying his door “is always open” and he hopes to work with local elected officials on impacts of actions taken by the state and discuss the best uses of resources.

As for the legislative session accomplishments, Rep. Rymer said there were some portions of funding the government he could support and some he did not.  “The budget” is broken into a number of votes for different departments. The final agreement SSHF9 adopted by the lawmakers in the one day special session passed 93-39.  According to the vote log for the House, Rep. Rymer voted no.

Rymer told the Board the long awaited bonding bill, however,  was acceptably “lean” and the evenly split House and Senate chambers were able to arrive at decisions that for the most part were “not bad things.”  Aside from recreational cannabis tax hikes, it was important  to him that no new taxes came out of this session, he added.  The gross receipts cannabis tax was approved to go to 15 percent from an earlier 10 percent.

Commissioner Ben Montzka pointed out Chisago County expects to see millions in revenue reductions  with no state aid increases enacted for social services alone.  

He noted Rep. Rymer advised the Board to exhibit “political courage” in drafting their 2026 budget. Commissioner  Montzka said the state is leaving counties in a tough fiscal position.  The state creates a service or program and the counties have the legal duty to make them happen.  The state doesn’t send adequate financial support.  The county basically only has property tax, which is a regressive form of generating revenue as it is not based on anybody’s ability to pay.  

The state, Montzka continued, has multiple revenue options and chose instead to reduce aid that helped counties provide mandated services.  Examples would be the 50 percent cut to state aid for fighting Aquatic Invasive Species;  the elimination of the local government share of cannabis gross receipts (it was to be 20 percent and went to zero) Human Services and social programs saw their distribution of who pays what percentage of providing the services revised,  so the county share went up.

Commissioner Marlys Dunne noted that any talk about “cuts” should really be “shifts” because the state budget total was not reduced.  Often, proposed growth for the upcoming year gets trimmed and are called “cuts”  but expenses do grow and the local government provider has to fill in the shortfall.

Rep. Rymer concluded by telling the commissioners to keep communicating with state leaders and he promised that addressing unfunded mandates is a priority of his next session.  

Rymer was elected in 2024 to succeed Anne Neu Brindley who opted to not seek re-election for Minnesota House District 28B. 

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