Accessibility menu
State Representative Joe Hoppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5066
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
OP/ED COLUMN
TAXES SHOULD BE A PRIORITY
News coming from the Speaker of the House today is that property tax relief is not on the way. The story is linked here at the Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1185098.html
To me, the most shocking admission is that they can’t find the money. We have a $2 billion surplus. That seems like a good place to look. Or, we could look at some of the things they did find the money for, such as…
A BIGGER LEGISLATURE: They were able to find $147 million to fund the Legislature for the next two years. That’s about $23 million more than we spend right now.
PORK: They found $31 million to hand out to the folks from the Iron Range, where several powerful committee chairmen just happen to live.
TRAINS, TRAINS AND TRAINS: They found $38 million to study, plan and create a multitude of light rail trains and even one to Chicago!
A NEW DECC: Add another $37 million for the folks in Duluth so they can build a new entertainment and convention center.
MORE WELFARE: They found $51 million to expand welfare benefits, undo reforms and open us up to having to pay $26 million in fines for no longer complying with federal standards.
That’s more than $200 million right there, and I’m sure you could find more in their entire budget proposal of more than $34 billion. But unless they reconsider, you’re out of luck.
I should also mention that Republican proposals for property tax relief still stand. We offered the entire one-time portion of the budget surplus – about $1 billion – for property tax relief. It’s simple, do-able and effective. The offer still stands, if Democrats want to accept it.
News Items
- TAKE REP. HOPPE'S 2009 LEGISLATIVE SURVEY - (Posted: 2009-02-11 00:00:00)
- Make Nursing Homes a Priority - (Posted: 2008-04-30 00:00:00)
- Halfway Through the 2008 Session - (Posted: 2008-03-18 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.