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State Representative Mary Franson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3201
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
POST SESSION UPDATE
News From Representative Franson
Happy Day to you!!!!!
Governor Dayton has vetoed every one of our budget bills, further pushing us toward a special session. It is my hope that Governor Dayton will be open to negotiations and that a budget will be resolved before July 1st. We are certainly open to hearing what the Governor has to say, I only wish he had been involved in negotiations sooner. Each of the bills were posted online for him to review, and instead he waited until they came in paper form to his desk so he could veto them. The reason for the veto you may wonder ... Governor Dayton vetoed the bills because there wasn't a tax increase as part of the budget. That's correct; Governor Dayton vetoed the bills over a lack of tax increases. As I travel the district I am finding out that business owners are keeping their fingers crossed that he doesn't get his way and that we continue to hold firm and say No to a tax increase.
Governor Dayton stated earlier in the session that he would like us to meet him halfway. We have met him halfway with a budget of $34 billion. Last biennium we spent just over $31 billion. Since the February forecast came out we learned that the state will see a six percent increase in revenue. Isn’t a $3 billion increase in revenue enough? Not for Governor Dayton, he wants another increase of $1.8 billion and to get there he is raising taxes! I believe that it's inappropriate to punish those who are creating jobs, expanding businesses, and making Minnesota a competitive place to do business. Friday night a business owner who owns three businesses said he would relocate his business if Dayton got his way. I believe him and there are many others out there that will do the same.
If every family or business in Minnesota saw an increase of six percent in their budget or income how would they spend that money? Would they complain and say that’s not enough! Of course not, they would find the best way to make those dollars go the furthest. They would do that by investing in programs that are working and making sure that bills they have to pay are taken care of. This is being responsible with finances. This year we as elected officials said enough is enough with reckless, runaway government spending and we were going to spend what is in the checkbook.
Because we experienced an increase in revenue we want to make sure those dollars are spent wisely. Our budget would raise education funding 3.2 percent, provide $570 million more in Health & Human Services funding and offer tax relief to businesses and middle-income Minnesotans. It would also provide over $9,000 in additional in funding for nursing homes in my district. Our balanced budget does all of this without raising taxes. So when you are reading in the papers or talking with your friends and the topic of the GOP "ALL CUTS BUDGET" comes up, it's not correct. This is a budget mixed with new revenue and cuts. It's is NOT an ALL CUTS BUDGET!
Also, you may have heard Governor Dayton refer to some of the legislators as being extremists and radicals. This name calling is directed to those who refuse to raise taxes. I happen to be one of those legislators and if living within our means is extreme and radical then so be it. During these tough times we need to give our businesses the tools they need to succeed and I know you want to see them succeed as well.
Compromise is another term that is being floated around. We need to compromise with the Governor. We did compromise. We met him halfway with our budget and we are waiting patiently to finish the budget.
So now it is time for Governor Dayton to get involved and negotiate. We cannot wait until July because if we do not come to a budget conclusion we could see about 35,000 people get laid off. No one wants to see that. So I am hopeful that the governor will come to the table and negotiate with us. We have been ready for weeks.
Have a great day!
Mary
News Items
- Legislative Update (May 24, 2013) - (Posted: May 24 2013 2:09PM)
- Legislative Update (May 17, 2013) - (Posted: May 17 2013 1:48PM)
- Legislative Update (May 10, 2013) - (Posted: May 10 2013 4:06PM)
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