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State Representative Duane Quam
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9236
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS COLUMN
GOVERNOR WANTS TO INCREASE SPENDING AND RAISE TAXES
On February 9, Governor Mark Dayton gave his State of the State Address on the floor of the Minnesota House. As this is the first address I’ve attended as a Minnesota lawmaker, it was very interesting to watch the pomp and circumstance that surrounds this yearly event. Minnesota senators and invited special guests also were in attendance creating a packed house on the House floor.
Both the Legislature and the Governor have the same goal of making Minnesota great. But unlike Dayton, the Legislature has no plans to burden the state's economy by raise taxes.
Dayton outlined areas where he would like to see further investment, places like roads, bridges, and schools. However, this basically indicates his intention to increase spending in these areas, without a way to pay for them, without increased taxes on Minnesotan's job creators.
The Governor also expressed disappointment that a $6.2 billion budget deficit was left in his lap and wished steps would have been taken previously to turn these financial shortfalls around. I agree. The previous Democrat-led Legislature did nothing to permanently reduce spending over the past four years which is clearly the reason we are in dire economic straits.
Hours after Dayton’s address, the current Minnesota Legislature did take action by approving a conference committee report that would reduce Minnesota’s budget deficit by $901 million. Included in the bill are provisions that make one-time cuts by last sessions Democrat-led Legislature permanent, eliminating Minnesota’s Political Contribution Refund program, and reducing state agencies.
I was disappointed Dayton vetoed the partial budget fix. To me, this bill represented the low hanging fruit. The Democrats made these cuts last year and everyone lived, so it seemed reasonable that we could make these cuts permanent.
There are no reasons for lawmakers to waste time. If we can find common ground with the Governor on areas where the budget should be reduced, then we should make those reductions as soon as possible. There’s no doubt we are going to disagree on some ideas, but if we can make some progress now, we will show job creators were making headway on the deficit and that we won’t force them to solve the state’s spending problems through tax increases.
Governor Dayton said he wants to have a good working relationship with the Legislature, and we have the same goal. A good first step in this relationship would have been allowing our Phase 1 budget reduction bill to become law.
News Items
- Quam Statement on HF956 - Omnibus Energy Bill - (Posted: May 8 2013 9:14AM)
- Capitol Update from Rep. Duane Quam - (Posted: May 3 2013 12:00AM)
- House Moves Ahead with Damaging Changes to Education and Taxes - (Posted: Apr 26 2013 12:00AM)
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