MS Tax Check-off Legislation
At the request of a constituent with multiple sclerosis, Minnesota State Representative Mike Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park) introduced legislation (H.F. 108) to create a tax check off for multiple sclerosis research, programs, services and financial assistance. The bill directs proceeds of the check-off to be sent to the Chapter. Senator Linda Higgins (DFL-Minneapolis) introduced the companion bill (S.F. 305) in the state senate.
In this bill, no Minnesota tax money would be spent on research and programs. This money is all voluntarily donated by the taxpayer. Similar bills have been enacted in nearly a dozen states and have raised in total more than $1 million.
Your legislators needs to hear your story to understand why increasing funding for MS research and programs is so crucial. Click here to personalize and send a letter asking your legislator to co-sponsor this bill.
Understanding the MS Check-off bill
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Q: Why should there be a check-off for MS? Minnesota doesn’t ‘do’ check-offs.
A: Minnesota does actually have a couple of check-offs (non-game wildlife and state election campaign fund) and there’s no reason one couldn’t be added for MS.
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Q: Why should taxpayer money that the state needs be send to the MS Society?
A: The money donated doesn’t come from state tax revenues. If you are getting a refund, the donation reduces it by that dollar amount and if you owe taxes, the donation will increase what you owe by that amount.
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Q: Aren’t there hidden costs in this because the state will have to pay people and use its equipment to process the donations and send money to the MS Society?
A: No – there are no hidden costs because the proposal allows the state to take money out of the check-off funds to pay to administer the check-off. In other words, it’s budget neutral.
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Q: How much state taxpayer funding already goes to the MS Society?
A: None. Zero. The National MS Society is fully privately funded, raising its money from events, individual donations and corporate partners.
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Q: If the MS check-off becomes law, won’t that open the floodgates of groups wanting check-offs?
A: Possibly, and different states handle this in different ways so that is the legislature’s decision to figure out which to approve and which to deny.
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Q: Granted, supporting MS research and programs for people with MS is a good cause, but why should the Minnesota legislature create a check-off for multiple sclerosis?
A: MS impacts approximately 10,000 Minnesotans and ongoing research will hopefully bring a cure for this disease. MS is kind of a ‘Minnesota disease’ in that it disproportionately impacts people in the northern climates, with Minnesota having among the highest per capita populations of people with MS of any state in the U.S. Typically people who live furthest from the equator are more likely to get multiple sclerosis.