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State Representative Tom Hackbarth
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-2439
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
FOLLOW THE INTENT AND SPIRIT OF THE LAW – SEND REBATE TO TAXPAYERS
By State Rep. Tom Hackbarth,
District 48A
Now that the 2007 Minnesota legislative session is underway, one of the most pressing concerns state lawmakers must address is, how do you spend $33 billion and change? That’s the projected size of the two-year general fund budget. The budget got fatter when state finance officials announced in November that the state will have $2.2 billion in over-collected tax dollars.
Just to give you some perspective, just a dozen years ago, the general fund budget was under $15 billion. State spending has more than doubled since then. It’s a given that this year, core state-funded programs such as K-12 education will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional new spending.
During the Jesse Ventura years, state lawmakers wisely adopted a spending control “circuit breaker” that required the Governor and the legislature to consider a tax rebate if projected budget surpluses got really big. That circuit breaker has been tripped. We should send some of those over-collected taxes back to taxpayers.
Even if the rebate amounted to just $10, $50 or $100 or more per person, it’s just good policy to let the true owners of that money decide how best to use it. Many will say that it’s better for the state to keep and “invest” these dollars in things such as education. But lawmakers aren’t always good at making decisions with your money. That rebate provision is important because it forces legislators to spend smarter.
Noted economist Milton Friedman (who died in November at age 94) said it best: “I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending.”
Unfortunately, the rebate circuit breaker in state statutes has a huge loophole. Although the provision requires the Governor to submit a rebate plan to the legislature, lawmakers can “enact, modify, or reject” the Governor's plan. However, I hope that members in the House and Senate follow the intent if not the spirit of the rebate law. These are over-collected taxes. Return them to taxpayers.
Rep. Hackbarth is the state representative for House District 48A which includes Elk River, Burns Township, Oak Grove, Bethel and East Bethel
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