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State Representative Sarah Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5511
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
OP/ED COLUMN
VIEWPOINT: MORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IS NECESSARY
By Sarah Anderson
State Representative, District 43A
In this, the last month of the legislative session, we will make the decisions that set taxes and spending for the next two years. But our vision has to look beyond that time frame. We have to take into account what our decisions will mean in the long-term. A long-term vision will be very important as we make our decisions in the coming weeks on matters of whether or not to raise taxes and how much money to spend.
The budget bills passed this year by the Minnesota House outspend current tax revenue and the $2.2 billion budget surplus. As a result, the DFL majority has chosen to make up the difference by raising taxes. Between the sales, gas, and income tax proposals, no Minnesotan will escape the significant tax increases. What’s worse is that these tax increases are just the beginning.
The spending bills we have before us will require more tax increases in the future because of what we call the “tails” riding behind each bill. The Omnibus Health and Human Services bill, for example, adds $642 million in spending now and then adds another $575 million in tails. We are committing ourselves to spending money that we don’t know will be there down the road.
As the economy changes, the next Legislature will have to find ways to pay this tab. When this happens, the state will be coming to every Minnesotan with its hand out. Every Minnesotan will be hit up for more taxes.
The west metro has always had the reputation of being Minnesota’s ATM and the proposed tax increases will only solidify that image. Whether you look at Local Government Aid that we fund but don’t receive or the transportation projects we help pay for but always seem to get built on the other side of the metro, we simply won’t come out ahead by paying higher taxes.
The better route to accomplish our budget goals is to exercise fiscal discipline over the bills that mandate large amounts of future spending. Let’s live within the means provided by the $2 billion surplus and invest in our state in a responsible manner.
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News Items
- 2013 budget: every man, woman and child in the state will pay more - (Posted: May 23 2013 12:07PM)
- Nursing homes and hospitals will be the hardest hit by the House Democrat majority’s $150 million in cuts to Health and Human Services - (Posted: May 9 2013 4:21PM)
- Legislation unionizing independent, privately-held daycare providers is traveling through the Legislature on a fast track - (Posted: May 6 2013 12:53PM)
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