Accessibility menu
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
THE 2008 SESSION IN REVIEW
By Tom Hackbarth
State Representative
The 2008 legislative session has come to an end, and I’m happy to report your wallets are now safe once again.
Facing a $935 million budget deficit the House Republicans stood strong with our Governor to make sure taxes were not raised. If the Democrats had their way we would have seen $5 billion in new taxes to balance the budget and increase funding for their pork projects, and push Minnesota’s already fragile troubled economy closer to the edge.
There is some good news to discuss however. We did win a battle when it comes to property tax relief. Republicans fought for and won a property tax cap. Under the new cap property tax increases will be limited to 3.9 percent. In addition, $25 million is to direct property tax relief. That is relief right in your wallet.
We fought against efforts to expand subsidized health care programs that are growing beyond what taxpayers can afford to support. Instead of expanding government, Republicans successfully secured tax credits for uninsured Minnesotans who purchase private insurance. We remain firmly committed to providing affordable and accessible health care through the private market, not a single-payer government bureaucracy.
Republicans spent the entire legislative session working to balance the budget while continuing to protect taxpayers. We have shown the state can live within its means and avoid burdening Minnesotans with more taxes.
In addition, we must continue working to create more jobs to broaden the tax base and help generate revenue to support our state. We also must continue to seek real improvements to our health care and education systems. We made progress in these areas this session, and we will continue seeking even more improvements.
-30-
News Items
- Dems propose to spend and tax - (Posted: Mar 22 2013 12:00AM)
- Statewide insurance plan makes headlines - (Posted: Mar 15 2013 12:00AM)
- Bill is the poster for government waste - (Posted: Mar 7 2013 12:00AM)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.