Higher taxes on gas, retail deliveries, cars come despite state’s $17.5 billion surplus

Tim Walz (Getty Images) 

The Minnesota legislature is raising taxes on state residents while simultaneously expanding benefits to illegal immigrants such as free college tuition and health care, aligning it with some of the most liberal places in the country. 

Members of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which in Minnesota controls the governor’s office and both chambers of Minnesota’s legislature, in May passed an array of tax hikes that will be used in part to fund programs for illegal immigrants. Minnesota Democratic governor Tim Walz signed measures that raise taxes on gas, retail deliveries, cars, and other items, even as the state entered March with a $17.5 billion budget surplus. At the same time, Minnesota Democrats enacted laws that will allow illegal immigrants to receive free state college tuition, enroll in the state’s low-income insurance program, and qualify for driver’s licenses.
“We want to make sure that when we’re expanding opportunities … we’re doing it for all Minnesotans, regardless of background, regardless of their documentation status,” liberal state lawmaker Omar Fateh said.
The changes align Minnesota—where Republicans held a majority in the state senate until this year—with the nation’s most liberal states and cities. Washington, D.C., allows …