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State Representative John Ward
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4333
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
Column/LTE
VOTE ON TAX BILL MADE EASIER WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE
I want to tell you about a few bills I helped pass over the last few days on the House floor. I voted for three education bills that, despite our historic state deficit, do not cut funding for Early Childhood, K-12 or Higher Education. These bills will help our youngest learners get off to a good start, maintain stable funding for K-12, and help prevent big tuition increases. I voted for a bill that does a better job of protecting hospitals with 1/10th of the cuts the Governor is recommending, minimizes job losses in nursing homes and prevents over 100,000 working Minnesotans from losing their health care. I also voted to increase funding for veterans programs, and maintained local road, bridge and highway funding.
You might ask: how is all this possible with a $6.4 billion budget deficit? I’ll tell you how – with the revenue that’s included in the House tax bill, which I voted for on Saturday night. I thought long and hard before casting this vote. I talked to educators, students, home and business owners, nursing homes and hospitals and they all asked to be spared from more damaging cuts and increased costs. I agreed – I couldn’t in good conscience vote to cut schools, kick people off health care, or raise property taxes again. There had to be a better, fairer way.
Turns out there is one thing the Governor, the Senate and the House all agree on; a cuts-alone approach to our state budget will cause too much long-lasting damage - new revenue is needed. So, the question becomes - what kind of new revenue is the most responsible and fair? The Governor chose a 20-year, $1 billion loan that our children and grandchildren will pay back, with an extra $600 million in interest. In the House, we chose a “pay as you go" plan that asks Minnesotans to pay a little extra now instead of lots more down the line.
A recent Tax Incidence Study shows that Minnesotan’s who earn below $113,000 pay on average 12% of their income in state and local taxes, while the highest earners, $447,000 and above, pay just 8.8%. The House Tax Bill addresses this disparity by creating a new 9%, 4th tier for the state’s highest earners, and reducing income taxes on low-and middle-income Minnesotans. Our plan will also significantly slow the pace of rising property taxes.
Our bill also includes an increase on the tobacco and alcohol tax– two options I don’t necessarily agree with. I voted for the overall bill, however, because it provides us with a starting point, and I’m optimistic those provisions will be removed in conference committee.
This was a hard choice, but I believe it was the right decision. We cannot ask our most vulnerable citizens, our children, seniors, and hard-working families to bear the brunt of the state’s worst ever fiscal crisis. This is a price that must be shared by all of us, and all of us will likewise share in the return on our investment.
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