ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents will see their state tax burdens drop thanks to a bill that won final backing Friday from the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton.
By lopsided margins, the House and Senate approved the $434 million relief package containing extra deductions and exemptions that can be claimed on this year’s tax forms and many more that can be accessed next year. The bill also repeals three controversial business sales taxes beginning in April. And it raises the balance of the state’s reserves by $150 million.
Calling it a “monumental victory,” Dayton and legislative leaders hailed it an hour before the final House vote. The Democratic governor soon signed it.
“I’m not aware of a time when a major tax bill has passed this quickly,” Dayton said. After the bill signing, he said in a statement the tax cuts will put “more money in the pockets of Minnesota families and businesses” and “make taxes simpler for Minnesotans.”
It lines Minnesota’s tax code up with more deductions available to federal filers, which will reduce state tax burdens for qualifying residents.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Prosecutors say a Minnesota couple lived in expensive homes and owned a yacht while taking more than $160,000 in state welfare benefits.
Court documents allege Andrea Lynne Chisholm and Colin A.J. Chisholm, of Deephaven, illegally obtained food stamps and other benefits from 2005 to 2012.
At the time, the charges say the couple were living in a luxury lakeside home and had nearly $3 million in bank accounts.
Authorities say the Chisholms have not been seen for about six weeks. The Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/1r7DrHkhttps://strib.mn/1r7DrHk ) reports warrants have been issued for their arrests.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told a news conference Friday the couple “were rich folks ripping off the system.”
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FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) - A former Mille Lacs County sheriff’s deputy could face 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing several boys.
The Otter Tail County Attorney’s office says Aaron Heuer (hire) of Isle pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving five victims.
Heuer also will plead guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Mille Lacs County.
Under a plea deal, Heuer admitted he inappropriately touched four boys, ages 8 to 10, while volunteering as a fishing guide at Lutheran Island Camp near Henning last summer.
KBRF-AM (https://bit.ly/1ffR6Eshttps://bit.ly/1ffR6Es ) reports no charges will be filed in a case involving two of the same victims on a separate, unrelated fishing trip in Aitkin County.
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BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) - A French national has been convicted in France of sexually assaulting boys during a field trip to a language camp in northern Minnesota.
Thirty-two-year-old Adrien Massy was sentenced in Angers, France, to 12 years in prison. Massy allegedly assaulted six boys and girls in Minnesota, then fled to France to avoid trial.
French consul Alain Frecon tells the Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/1mlHaQxhttps://strib.mn/1mlHaQx ) four of Massy’s victims were French citizens, and two were Americans.
Frecon says Massy was tried in France because Massy acknowledged he had committed similar crimes in his homeland.
Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp says two of Massy’s victims in Minnesota were boys and were with Massy in May 2010 on a field trip from the French Academy of Minnesota in St. Louis Park to the Concordia language camp.
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