| For Immediate Release |
| March 12, 1999 |
After the election in November, the House Republican Party said they would return the surpluses to taxpayers with substantial cuts in our income taxes. They're sticking to their guns and unfortunately, they're getting flak from the media, the governor and the DFL party for standing by their principles.
I remember a few other promises made during the Fall election. Jesse Ventura said he would return all of the surpluses back to taxpayers. In his state-of-the-state address, he said that one of his core principles was to be fiscally prudent. "Never forget it's the public's money," he said. Well, he seems to have quickly forgotten. Minnesotans have the second highest income tax bill in the nation. With another surplus tipping the scales at more than $4 billion (and surpluses totaling almost $10 billion since 1992), how much have your income taxes been permanently reduced? Zero. Not a dime.
The sad fact is that despite surplus after surplus, state spending has more than doubled in the last 10 years. In the last biennium alone the DFL Legislature increased spending by more than 18 percent! As we complete the budget process over the next several weeks, my House colleagues and I will do everything we can to stop the runaway train of government spending. We can't do it alone, however. The Senate and the Governor need to share our vision. That's why I was encouraged to hear Governor Ventura say in his State of the State Address, "[Minnesota] is jeopardized by this weak notion that taxpayers must step forward to provide nearly unlimited resources to anyone who faces adversity, who lives with circumstances they brought about through their own decisions, or who live with consequences of choices to act illegally." I agree.
Like you, I'm tired of listening to political double-speak. Enough is enough. Please urge your elected officials state representatives, state senators and the governor to rebate the current surplus, cut tax rates across the board, and stop spending so much money. It's not more complicated than that.
On Thursday, March 11, Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum and House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty offered Governor Ventura and Senate Democrats a trade: the House Republicans would be willing to accept the one-time tax surplus rebate based on the sales tax if the Senate and the governor would agree to a permanent, across-the-board cut in income tax rates. However, so far, they have been content to dig in deep and watch our tri-partisan experiment in government become stagnant.
Minnesotans should get a big rebate check back as soon as possible. Most of the newest surplus is a projection of revenues over the next few years and it will only occur and reoccur if the government continues to over-collect taxes at the same rates we're paying today. How sad it is that Republican House members are the only ones in St. Paul with the courage to demand substantial and permanent income tax cuts.
In the next few weeks, you'll probably hear politicians say that even though the economy is strong and the state's coffers are overflowing, they can't make significant tax cuts because we might not have enough money if the economy worsens in the next few years. Unfortunately, those politicians are never as cautious when it comes to hiking state spending.
It's your paycheck. You should be allowed to keep more of what you earn.