Accessibility menu
State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
Gearing up for state political conventions
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
With this being an election year, both political parties are gearing up for their respective state conventions. Democrats have theirs first, the weekend of April 23-24. Republicans follow the next weekend, April 30-May 1. It’s expected both parties will endorse their candidate for governor at these gatherings. The Democrats may take a bit longer to come up with theirs, however, with at least one candidate, Mark Dayton, saying he’s going to bypass the state convention and go directly to the primary. Minnesota’s primary election has been moved up a month this year and is scheduled for August 10.
The pace of action at the Legislature has slowed a bit, after getting off to an extremely quick start. I think many are waiting for the state conventions, not wanting to rock the boat with anything too controversial in the days leading up to those gatherings. Another reason for the slight “pause” may be a waiting game to see what the feds in Washington do with any additional funding for Medicare. Both Gov. Pawlenty’s revised budget and the plan put forth by the Legislature make use of about $400 million in extra funding from Washington to balance the current budget. Rumors I’ve heard put the date somewhere around the first part of May when the decision on Medicare will be made at our nation’s capitol.
The Legislature has already cut just over $300 million, leaving about $700 million to be trimmed. If the extra Medicare funding comes from Washington it would make the additional cuts needed to balance the state budget much easier. The Departments of Health and Human Services, along with K-12 education, are the remaining areas where cuts would come from. It’s my hope that education will be spared. This area has already seen shifts in funding that have caused cash-flow problems, in addition to delays in state aid for some districts.
The Tax Foundation came out with its annual “Tax Freedom Day” calculation recently. On average, it takes until April 9 to pay one’s share of federal, state, and local taxes. That date is one day later than last year, but two weeks earlier than ’07. Nationally, the two largest areas of revenue collections are income and social insurance taxes. At the state and local level, real estate and sales taxes are the biggest income sources for government.
The Foundation also breaks down its numbers by state, with Alaska and Louisiana having the earliest Tax Freedom Days of March 26. At the other end of the spectrum, Connecticut ranks first (worst) and has the latest date of April 27, with New Jersey and New York second and third, a few days earlier.
Minnesota is eighth in the ranking of latest Tax Freedom Days, with our date being April 13. Neighboring states rate much better, with South Dakota being 47th and its day being March 29. North Dakota is 39th, Iowa 36th, and Wisconsin 13th.
In making the calculation, total tax collections are divided by the nation’s total income. This year the amount of taxes to be paid is 26.9 percent of income. Therefore, by simply counting days (and not taking into account weekends or holidays), the time span from Jan. 1 through April 8 represents 26.9 percent of the year. So, on average, one must work that long to pay this year’s tax obligation. Overall, according to the Tax Foundation, Americans will pay more taxes in 2010 than they’ll spend on food, clothing, and shelter, combined.
—30—
Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
News Items
- ANDERSON TAKES HOUSE OATH - (Posted: Jan 8 2013 12:00AM)
- Legislative begins this week - (Posted: Jan 11 2013 3:36PM)
- Current surplus allows K-12 repayment - (Posted: Dec 10 2012 12:00AM)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.