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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
2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION -- GET IN, GET OUT
By State Rep. Tom Hackbarth,
District 48A
The 2006 legislative session which is underway should be short, focused and primarily dedicated to passing an estimated $1 billion job-creating bonding (borrowing) bill for state infrastructure needs, from parks and roads to college buildings. After we pass a bonding bill (hopefully around Easter), we should end the session. We don’t need to hang around until the official May 22 adjournment date. We should get in and get out.
Remember, the legislature already passed the two-year budget last year to pay bills for the 2006-07 fiscal years – and we had to go into overtime to do it. It was a big general fund budget too, some $30.5 billion and 8.4 percent bigger than the prior two-year budget amount. Did your paycheck go up by a similar percentage? We should not spend more time at the Capitol – and more money -- than is necessary.
Keep in mind, that $1 billion budget surplus announced months ago is pretty much already dedicated by law. Some $700 million of that money has already been going to school districts as was required by state law. Another portion of the surplus (more than $317 million) has been deposited in a Tax Relief Account.
If there’s money to spend, I think it would be wiser and smarter to return that money back to taxpayers. Two options have been discussed: either send some of those dollars back to those hit by higher property taxes or get rid of the “marriage penalty” in the state income tax code. If you’re married, the federal tax system gives you a break, but Minnesota “divorces” you from the tax break when you file your state income taxes.
There are many at the Capitol who would like to spend more in this non-budget year, and some have even proposed increasing state taxes to do so. I just want to remind readers about the February U.S Census Bureau report. The report said that state taxpayer burdens have increased by 41 percent from 1994 to 2004, sparked largely by increases in Medicaid and education spending. Minnesotans paid an average of $2,891 in 2004, up from $1,894 in 1994, putting Minnesota among the top five states with the highest state tax burden.
As I said, the best outcome for this session would be to get in and get out before someone gets the idea of taking more from your paycheck.
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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