At Issue: May 21 — Minnesota House passes tax bill, legal cannabis heads to the governor’s desk

The Minnesota Legislature is spending the weekend wrapping up several items before the session ends.

The Minnesota House of Representatives passed the state tax bill just Saturday night, to the ire of many GOP lawmakers who say it will increase taxes by $2.2 billion despite an $18 billion budget surplus.

The bill includes $260 rebate checks for single tax filers and $520 rebates for married couples.

Other issues include marijuana legalization, e-pull tabs, transportation taxes on gas and deliveries and the bonding bill.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Senate remains in session to finish its work before the end of the legislative session.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reporter Eric Chaloux hosted this week’s edition of “At Issue” just before lawmakers reconvened at the Minnesota State Capitol to wrap up the legislative session.

Congressman Tom Emmer, the majority whip for the U.S. House of Representatives, joined the show to speak about a number of national issues, including the debt ceiling, the U.S. southern border, and background checks and red flag laws for prospective gun buyers.

Other guests, former Minnesota State Sen. Jeff Hayden and CEO of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota Annette Meeks, sat down to discuss the latest legislative developments.

Click here to keep up on the latest updates from the KSTP Legislative tracker.