Jan Meeting Review

We heard from Tad Jude today, candidate for Secretary of State (SOS), running for Republican endorsement. The SOS is a powerful position that impacts, not just voting, but business regulations and provides input to the Governor. Simon helped give us the new State flag design and a petition was passed around to request a vote on the flag. The SOS office impacts the wording of ballot questions which are often misleading and hard to understand.  Among goals Jude has, if elected, would be to secure the vote thus increasing trust in elections through a Photo ID requirement and other improvements.

We also heard from Brian Marum, Accountant, about the good things in the Working Family Tax Cut Act (aka One Big Beautiful Bill). The main thing is that it extended and made permanent the 2017 tax cuts which would have expired Dec 31, 21025. It introduced many new features for individuals and business taxpayers. These included: an increase in the child tax credit, an adoption credit, increased the State and Local Tax deduction to $40,000. Also, for tax years 2025-28: 1) a deduction for interest paid on loans for American-made vehicles and 2) Those aged 65 and older eligible for a personal exemption of $6,000 (AGI under $75K). In addition, individuals may deduct up to $1,000 in cash charitable contributions without itemizing. Trump Accounts (for under 18, capped at $5,000/year – not deductible. Corporate tax rate maintained at 21%. The main negative for Minnesota is that the current Administration and Legislature are unlikely to conform MN taxes to the Federal, which means that people could expect a higher tax payment owed on their state taxes. People are urged to contact their legislators to ask that conformity be approved by the Legislature.