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State Representative Matt Dean
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3018
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
Taxapalooza Could Derail Zephyr, Sessio
This year, I authored legislation to begin the process of acquiring the Zephyr Train line for the development of a tail connecting downtown to the Gateway Trail along Stillwater’s beautiful Brown’s creek. This $250,000 is meant to begin the process so the DNR can determine a fair price and prevent the property from being sold off in the next year. I am committed to seeing this project become a reality, and the first step is fitting it into a bonding bill that can become law.
Folks have asked me why I did not support the first version of the big bill that included this provision. This bill will be vetoed in its current form, as it spends $120 million over what the banks will lend us for proposed emergency construction projects. This $120 million therefore is cut from areas like education and healthcare because the Speaker has said that “not one penny” of money from the Democrat’s proposed tax increases will go to projects in the bonding bill.
The legislature is currently hammering out the states priorities like healthcare, education and transportation for the next two years. The growing economy has produced an extra 9% in revenue. This $2 billion surplus gives us about $34 billion to spend. Despite what some say, it’s just as real as the 4.5 billion deficit we faced just a few short years ago. I agree with Governor Pawlenty’s belief that in order to prevent another deficit shock, government should not grow faster than family income and we should hold the line on Titanic-sized tax increases.
Democrats have so far responded with eye-popping income tax increases, a $244 million tax increase on Minnesota employers who have sales or operations in other countries, a 50% gas tax increase ($332 million per year), a "wheelage taxes" on every car ($92 million per year), a license tabs tax ($59 million per year), a separate metro counties sales taxes ($222 million per year), a metro tax on new cars ($3.2 million per year), a new state-wide sales tax for transportation ($362 million per year), a dedicated sales tax on cars that will be used for leases ($36.4 million per year) and a 25-cent tax on every incandescent light bulb sold in the state.
There are also huge tax increases proposed for clothing, paint, surgeries, hearses, funerals and beer (up 800%). Both the House and Senate Democrats have proposed about $200 million of property tax increases on businesses.
These tax increases are aimed at the suburbs. After winning elections and campaigning on fiscal moderation, our friends have gone on a bender, racking up $5 billion in proposed new taxes. If we don’t change, Stillwater and Woodbury will be the ATM machine for the biggest government expansion in my lifetime.
You may have read in the newspaper that if enacted, this will result in Minnesota having the highest level of taxation of any state in the country. The Governor has promised to veto these bills. One such bill is the bonding bill.
That is why I could not support this bill. This and other bills being presented to the Governor are wasting precious time and may result in the legislature once again not getting its work done on time and possibly creating a government shut down.
Making worthwhile projects like the Brown’s Creek Trail come at the cost of cuts to healthcare and education are unnecessary and will cause an immediate veto. Spending $120 million of money that could be going to our crowded classrooms or uninsured kids simply to move up construction on projects that can wait until next year’s $1 billion bill (such as $2 million on a high-speed train to Chicago) is ill-advised.
Folks in Stillwater have told me that we should not have to spend $250 million to get $250 thousand even if classrooms and healthcare could be spared cuts. They are tired of paying for politicians who vote for big bills because of little earmarks. They tell me that 9% increase should be enough, and the proposed huge tax increases are job-killers.
In my first term, I enjoyed working on the bonding committee because the bipartisan nature of the work. We put together a bill that met the needs of the state as whole. Expansions at the Stillwater prison, Gateway Trail and Century College are under way as a result of that bill.
Bonding Committee Chair Rep. Alice Hausman is a very respected member of the House. I look forward to working with her again this year and next to put together another bipartisan bill that meets the needs of the whole state. Rep. Hausman has been very supportive of the Browns Creek (Zephyr) Trail and understands the necessity of moving this year.
She also understands the need to come together with a bill that the Governor can sign and I will help her do that. I will advocate for local project to be included in the final bill on its own merits as I have done in the past. The real work will then only begin. I will also work with the County, the parks and Trails Commission, and other stakeholders to make the Brown’s Creek Trail a reality. It will take years. I welcome any help from legislators of any party or any district to put partisanship aside and work to get it accomplished.
The larger question is this: Can we fund our priorities within the means provided by an expanded economy, or do we really need $5 billion in suburban-targeted tax increases?
News Items
- DEAN SWORN IN FOR FIFTH TERM - (Posted: Jan 8 2013 3:00PM)
- STATE REPRESENTATIVE MATT DEAN SELECTED AS 2010 HENRY TOLL FELLOW - (Posted: 2010-05-26 00:00:00)
- State Rep. Dean Reacts to St. Croix Bridge Decision - (Posted: 2010-03-15 00:00:00)
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