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State Representative Tim Kelly
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8635
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS COLUMN
GOVERNOR’S STATE OF THE STATE: SPEND MORE
Governor Dayton gave the Minnesota Legislature his first State of the State address recently, and while he prioritized innovation and education, he also suggested that there will be tax increases.
The bulk of the speech was spent discussing how he wants Minnesota to improve in the future, with greater state investment in areas like transportation, student achievement, quality health care all worthy goals. But what was sorely lacking was an idea of how to pay for these investments.
I found it strange that throughout the Governor's entire speech, there was no mention of our $6.2 billion dollar budget deficit. What I did hear Governor Dayton ask of private business was to partner with him by adopting a school and investing in children's future. I thought that was a great idea until I heard the rest of the speech where he went on to say that they would be paying higher taxes in our state because they were not paying their fair share.
The Governor basically said that when he unveils his balanced budget proposal he will be asking for income tax hikes. I believe this is the wrong approach. Under the "tax the rich" proposals, you will likely be taxing small business owners who are struggling to make ends meet as it is.
While the Governor mentioned that he inherited the current situation, he did not offer any solutions during the address as to how he would help balance the budget. Its worth noting that the Minnesota Legislature has already begun this process, as we've approved a bill that would chip roughly $1 billion off the current deficit and yet the Governor has already vetoed this.
This is the first time we've had any budget reduction proposal this early in session. Usually we just sit back and wait for an updated budget forecast before deciding to get to work. This year, lawmakers have attacked the problem and are legislating responsibly.
I think it’s great the Governor has outlined his priorities to make Minnesota better. However, the investments of which he speaks is code for spending increases. If he believes those increases will be funded through tax increases, he will have a difficult time convincing the Legislature they are needed when state spending is already projected to increase by 28 percent. At this point in time it is clear to me that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
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- MORE GOOD NEWS FOUND IN LATEST STATE BUDGET FORECAST - (Posted: 2012-03-06 00:00:00)
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