Accessibility menu
State Representative Joyce Peppin
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7806
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
NEWS COLUMN
Peppin Report - Minnesota Reaches Milestone on April 13
I’m pleased to report that last week the state finally reached one of the most important milestones of the year. No, it wasn’t the Twins first home opener in the new open-air stadium. It wasn’t some new monumental legislation that passed. It wasn’t even that the temperature reached 75 degrees for the first time this year. The milestone was that on Tuesday April 13 Minnesota finally made it to this year’s "Tax Freedom Day.” After well over three months, Minnesotans finally earned enough money to pay this year’s combined federal, state and local taxes!
Tax Freedom Day, which was first calculated in 1948, is determined by dividing total tax payments by income as projected for the year by the non-partisan Tax Foundation. The date we have finally earned enough to pay all our taxes owed for the year is known as Tax Freedom Day. Sadly the Tax Foundation reported Americans will pay more taxes in 2010 than they will spend on food, clothing and shelter combined!
It took Minnesotans 103 days this year to pay their state and federal taxes. Only eight states take longer than Minnesota to reach Tax Freedom Day. All four of our neighbors – South Dakota (88 days), North Dakota (93 days), Iowa (94 days), and Wisconsin (102 days) – reach Tax Freedom Day before us. You can read the full report at:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/.
It is important to note that Tax Freedom Day does not count the federal deficit, even though the deficit must eventually be financed. According to the Tax Foundation, the difference between what governments are spending and the revenue collected has never been as great as during 2009 and 2010. If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working an additional 38 days. Unfortunately, excessive and irresponsible state and federal spending alongside exploding deficits are expected to dramatically push out Tax Freedom Day in the years to come.
At my small business forum last winter and at my town hall listening sessions this spring, both employers and employees expressed concern about the level of government control, high taxes and careless spending. Job providers repeatedly tell me they cannot grow their businesses and hire more workers if something isn’t done to address the crushing tax burden. I agree. We need to do all we can to promote private sector job growth instead of expanding government, raising taxes and pushing more Minnesotans onto costly and unsustainable government programs.
As the legislative session heads into the final weeks, I pledge to continue the fight against tax increases and wasteful government spending. I encourage your continued questions, suggestions and comments.
I hope you enjoyed Tax Freedom Day on April 13th! Remember we only have a mere 262 days until we start again.
News Items
- PEPPIN REPORT: FORECAST SHOWS THIRD CONSECUTIVE STATE SURPLUS - (Posted: 2012-12-06 00:00:00)
- A Look Ahead to the 2012 Legislative Session - (Posted: 2012-01-26 00:00:00)
- A Call to Caucus - (Posted: 2012-02-04 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.