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State Representative Joe Atkins
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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HOUSE COMMERCE CHAIR SEEKS TO KEEP NWA JOBS IN MINNESOTA
ST. PAUL, MN - Delta may have all but sealed the deal on its buyout of Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines. But if State Representative Joe Atkins has his way, that’s not the only contract airline executives will have on their mind this year. Rep. Atkins, who chairs the House Commerce and Labor Committee, introduced legislation this session requiring NWA to live up to its agreements with the state to keep jobs in Minnesota. If this decade-old contract is breached, Atkins’ bill would have NWA/Delta compensate Minnesota taxpayers the outstanding $500 million it currently owes the state and Metropolitan Airports Commission.
Under the terms of a financial package with the State dating back to 1992, the State provided $761 million and the Metropolitan Airports Commission provided another $270 million in assistance to NWA. In exchange, the airline agreed to keep its headquarters, its hub and over 15,000 jobs in the state. NWA recently told Atkins and other state officials that it expects to depart from that agreement with respect to the headquarters and job figures, but nonetheless wants to keep all of the State’s and MAC’s money. Atkins said that’s unacceptable.
“Minnesota is facing its worst economic recession since World War II," said Rep. Atkins. “Almost 200,000 Minnesotans are already on the unemployment rolls, and forecasts predict another 77,000 Minnesota jobs will be lost in 2009 alone. This is no time to put Minnesota jobs on the next flight to Georgia. We need to do everything possible to ensure those jobs stay here.”
More than 1,000 jobs are expected to be lost at the airport and NWA corporate headquarters if the airline breaches its contract with the state and moves jobs elsewhere. That would cause an estimated $400 million hit to Minnesota’s economy, according to Commissioner Dan McElroy of the Department of Employment and Economic Development in a memo dated April 30, 2008.
“I’m just asking NWA/Delta to live up to its agreement with Minnesota, just like any other business or any other citizen would have to do,” Rep. Atkins said. “And if they don’t, I want our money back, to help address the state budget deficit and to create jobs here in Minnesota.”
The House Commerce and Labor Committee, Local Government Committee, Transportation Policy and Oversight Division, and Transportation Finance Committee will be holding a joint hearing regarding the sale of NWA to Delta and its impact on Minnesota on Thursday, January 22. Atkins expects to hear from Delta/NWA and MAC officials as well as discuss his proposed legislation at that hearing. With half a billion dollars and more than a thousand Minnesota jobs on the line, this issue will be of considerable focus in the coming weeks as lawmakers work to balance a record $4.8 billion deficit and rebuild the state’s struggling economy.
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