Newsmakers: Sen. Rest Moving Through Session ‘Thoughtful, Considerate, Cautious’
Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) says the next six weeks of the legislative session are going to be busy.
“We have to be thoughtful, considerate, and cautious,” said Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope). “We have a significant budget surplus in one-time money.”
Rest added that “we need to make sure our eyes don’t get too big about what we can accomplish in one set of bills.”
She highlighted the first two bills that will be included in the Senate tax bill this year. The two measures passed with bipartisan support and are both authored by Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic.
One would benefit tourism marketing efforts by allowing lodging businesses to petition a municipality to establish a special “Tourism Improvement District” (TID) within a designated boundary.
“This would empower lodging businesses to raise funds that can be used to attract visitors and regain tourism that was lost due to COVID,” said Rest.
The other would extend the Historic Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit, which is a 20 percent tax credit for developers who restore and rehabilitate historic structures. The current credit expired last July.
“It’s been enthusiastically renewed from time to time and this year is the time,” said Rest.
