| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| April 14, 1999 | Eric Lochen (651-296-9895) |
ST. PAUL State Representative Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) joined other House Republicans and DFLers Tuesday night in voting 129-1 in favor of the largest tax cut in Minnesota history, which came unexpectedly as an amendment to a simple technical bill. By the time deliberations were done, the final package received bipartisan support from both Republicans and DFLers.
"What more could we ask for?" Buesgens said. "The ball is now in the Senate's court and their choice of action really should be a slam dunk."
The $3.1 billion total tax relief bill includes $1.8 billion in income tax cuts and $1.3 billion for a sales tax-based surplus rebate, which includes $70 million in property tax relief for Minnesota farmers. Buesgens said that the House measure calls for rebate checks to be cut by June 1 instead of August, the date that the Governor's plan calls for.
"It is important to return this year's surplus now and get that money into the hands of families as soon as possible," Buesgens said.
The measure passed by the House lowers the income tax rate for all three brackets. The bottom tax bracket is cut from 6% to 5.5%, the middle bracket is cut even more significantly from 8% to 7% and the top bracket is also cut from 8.5% to 8%.
The House bill also eliminates the marriage penalty taxing discrepancy from the state income tax and includes an automatic rebate "kicker" provision for dealing with future surpluses.
Buesgens commented that it is ironic that such a huge tax relief bill would pass just when the House was beginning debate on major omnibus spending bills, but most of the proposed House finance bills effectively reduce the rate of spending growth and could be tempered to accommodate the larger tax increase. The only major finance bill likely to grow substantially is K-12 education, which is much needed.
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