St. Cloud Legislators Prepare for 2024 Session

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) - Business leaders were up early Wednesday morning to hear local legislators’ thoughts on the upcoming session.

The St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce sponsored the listening session at the Kelly Inn.

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The legislators in attendance included:

Taxes, especially the corporate tax rate, were on the minds of many in attendance. Here’s a sample of the tax discussion.

Q: One of the hot topics in the business community is the earned safe and sick time legislation that was passed. It's turning out to be a burden for business. What can be done about this?

• Schultz: Ultimately, this should be about humility. We should add more humility to assist small businesses. Leave for vacation, for sick time, and other things is a way for employers to properly compete for employees in the market today. (Minnesota Safe and Sick Leave) is a blanket approach that really doesn't allow you, as a business owner to compete for employees using that leave. And so we should bring more humility and fewer mandates to the table on this issue, which is where I think we need to go in this conversation.
• Perryman: I had to hire an outside source because I do not have a full HR department in my area. I'm 20 employees big. I took a diary of it because I want to take it back to the floor as a real business owner. I am the first person to say everyone deserves earned sick and save time. Can't we put some guardrails on this to help small employees or employers?
• Wolgamott: The idea is you shouldn't have to choose between earning your living and taking care of yourself or a family member. If you get the flu, if you get a call from the school and you have to pick up your kid from the nurse's office, if your elderly parents slip and have a bad fall and need some care for a couple of days, we really want to strike that balance. What I'm hearing is that there are issues arising from this. And I'm more than open to working with you - please share those stories, share those experiences -  we'll bring them to the Labor Committee as a community to make sure that we are taking care of our workers.
• O’Driscoll: One size does not fit all when it comes to this type of situation. The businesses, their employees, and the work group figure out what's important to them. We have a shortage of qualified people as well as just a shortage of people available for work. Employers will figure out what those employees want, and match their needs. And if they don't, they won't have those employees. It's just that simple. We don't need the one-size-fits-all from the government.

The audience was able to add their own questions to the list, and many offered questions about workforce availability and staffing shortages.

Q2: How should the legislature address the shortage of workers in critical industries like construction, manufacturing, health services, transportation, and information technology in a way that would help to grow those workforces and fill those gaps?

• Wolgamott: It takes a multifaceted approach. First, we need to invest in workforce development and help businesses make those connections. There's also the pipeline from our higher education institutions. But there are factors even outside of that: workforce housing and childcare.
• Perryman: We have a big population in our community that's not working. How do we reach out to them? I'm going to go back to fewer mandates on construction, fewer mandates on sick and time leave. Businesses are under attack on a lot of different things. So the workforce is very important. And there's money there, but let's use it wisely.
• O’Driscoll: I have an idea about how we can immediately start helping with the workforce and stabilizing our society. How about we stop demonizing law enforcement people? The mass exit of people who are leaving law enforcement is at a record pace. Last December, we had the opportunity to meet with the Stearns County Police Chiefs Association and they said we're having nothing but trouble finding law enforcement officers. (They) can't pay what (their) counterparts pay in St. Cloud or even in Sartell or Waite Park.

The 2024 Minnesota Legislative Session begins February 12^th.

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