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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Denny McNamara

359 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3135

For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317

Posted: 2011-02-21 00:00:00
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NEWS COLUMN

NEWS AND VIEWS WITH REP. DENNY McNAMARA

The highlight of the past week at the State Capitol was the unveiling of Governor Mark Dayton’s balanced budget. Despite promises to significantly reduce state spending and reform state government, Governor Mark Dayton failed to follow through on either, which I found to be extremely disappointing.

Minnesota currently faces a projected $6.2 billion budget deficit. To solve this problem, Dayton took the predictable choice of calling for tax increases. Dayton’s plan would raise taxes by more than $4 billion and create the highest income tax rate in the country. Meanwhile, Dayton chose to make only $485 million in net budget cuts.

We were sent here to make budget tough choices and be fiscally responsible, yet with this budget the Governor did nothing but ignore and extend our state’s spending problem. Basically for every 50 cents he makes in budget cuts, he wants to raise taxes four dollars.

It’s worth noting that Dayton’s budget increases state spending by 22 percent over the current level. That means our current $32 billion budget would skyrocket to $37 billion for the next two years if the Governor’s plan becomes law.

This is not a realistic budget. The Governor knows this has zero chance of making it through the Legislature. Rather than going through the motions of creating a budget that will never become law, I wish he would have been a bit more engaged and looked harder at spending reductions, which are inevitable moving forward.

We will certainly give the Governor’s budget deliberations in our House committees, but I think everyone knows now is not the time to slow the economy down and go after tax increases. People expect government to live within its means. Minnesota will actually have $1.5 billion more to spend that it did during our last budget cycle without having to raise taxes. I think most folks would say $33.5 billion should be able to keep Minnesota government operational.

Though we disagree on how to balance Minnesota’s budget, Governor Dayton and I did have a nice chat recently at the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance meeting. We discussed topics relating to environment and energy issues, and as the Chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, we are hopeful to find common ground in areas that will protect our land, water, and air.

Of note in the Minnesota House this past week, lawmakers passed a bill that addresses the nuclear ban we have in Minnesota. The current ban prevents the State of Minnesota and energy providers from even having a discussion about expanding nuclear energy in this state. This bill would remove that barrier.

Mark your calendars – I will be holding a town meeting in Hastings on March 5 at the Green Mill Restaurant, 909 Vermillion Street, from 10:00 – 11:30 AM. At 12:30 that same day I will be appearing with Representative John Kriesel for a town meeting at the American Motorsports Bar and Grill, 7240 E. Point Douglas Road #110, in Cottage Grove. I’m also finalizing my annual session survey, and I’ll have more details on that before long.

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