Accessibility menu
State Representative Kurt Zellers
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5502
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
THE ECONOMY SHOULD BE JOB ONE
By State Rep. Kurt Zellers,
District 32B
A few weeks back I submitted a Capitol Update asking the Democrat Leadership of the Minnesota House and Senate to propose their plan for balancing the State’s nearly $1 billion budget deficit. Within the last couple of weeks they finally came up with a solution; but one that will never become law because it is in direct violation of the constitution that governs our great state.
In Minnesota, we are not allowed to pass a bill that has more than one subject; funding for roads is in the transportation bill, funding for schools is contained in the Education bill, I think you get the idea. The Democrat led House and Senate passed a bill that contained ALL areas of our state government. The nearly 400 page bill was described by one veteran Capitol Reporter as, “A sprawling budget bill that is…mind-bending in its scope.”
And how do the Democrat Leaders fix the budget deficit? With accounting shifts, cuts to health care, cuts to higher education, cuts to the courts system, draining the State’s health safety account by $500 million, raising taxes and fees on job providers and probably worst of all – spending almost all of the money in the State’s savings account (the budget reserve/rainy day funds). This is not real leadership; this is not addressing a budget crisis head-on; this is putting off today what is only going to get worse tomorrow.
So what exactly is in this bill that some reporters are calling, “The Garbage Bill”? It funds a commission on enacting California emissions standards for our Minnesota cars, expansion of welfare programs, increased government “studies” and probably the most egregious – a $500,000 grant for Joel and Ethan Coen to film their next movie. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of some of their movies and would love to see them spend some money in their home state. But when our State is facing a nearly $1 billion dollar budget deficit should we really be giving half a million dollars to a couple of California movie millionaires? I just think that is a horrible case of misplaced priorities. Building permanent, good paying jobs is the best way to stimulate our State’s economy now and for the next generation.
Sadly, this bill does not include anything to address what is on the minds of most Minnesotans – jobs and the economy. It is the number one issue on the minds Minnesotans and Americans all around the country in any poll you read. So at a time when competition for attracting new businesses to our state is at an all time high; the Democrat Leadership in Minnesota ties the hands of job providers by raising taxes and fees and eliminating incentives to bring jobs to our state.
One program eliminated that is especially important for the Metro area and our Northwest Suburbs in particular – was the Research and Development tax credit. This tax credit is given to Minnesota companies that spend money (i.e. their profits) on new technology, new devices or new planning that has the potential to create new jobs in our State. The Democrat Chair of the Tax Committee describes this as a, “corporate subsidy” for businesses. But if giving a little bit of an incentive helps a small or large business add more jobs which will in turn create more revenue (tax dollars) for our state – haven’t we really HELPED our state economy?
By eliminating this program we are telling Minnesota companies that we just want them to maintain the status quo, not add new jobs or expand. My grandpa gave me a great analogy for that kind of budget management, “That’s like selling the milk cows to pay today’s bills, but where will you get the money next month?”
It seems to many Minnesotans there is a simple solution: cut spending and live within our means. After all, runaway spending is what got us into this problem in the first place. Spending by this same Democrat leadership took a 2 billion dollar surplus and turned it into a near billion dollar deficit in just under two years.
The Governor’s plan has a balance of spending cuts while utilizing a small portion of the budget reserves to balance our budget deficit. It does not raise taxes; in fact it calls for a reduction in the state wide sales tax. Let’s follow his lead and get back to creating good paying, permanent jobs in our state!
News Items
- Legislative Update (April 20, 2013) - (Posted: Apr 20 2013 2:43PM)
- Zellers Statement on House DFL Budget Framework - (Posted: Mar 19 2013 4:57PM)
- ZELLERS STATEMENT ON FEBRUARY FORECAST - (Posted: Mar 1 2013 6:02PM)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.