SAINT PAUL, MN – Rep. Jerry Hertaus, R-Greenfield, issued the following statement regarding the release of the February forecast budget update:
"Today's budget forecast statement issued by the Minnesota Office of Budget & Management shows yet again the blueprint Governor Dayton should follow if he desires to achieve economic growth and promote market based job creation. Fiscal restraint over the past two years has lead to a dramatic improvement for Minnesota's economy. Minnesota has created over 50,000 new jobs in the past year alone, and has generated billions of dollars in additional tax revenue, all without raising taxes.
“This is evidence of the policies put into place during the past two years which are now yielding increases in the revenue stream and tax collections that government receives from its present tax structure when Minnesota's economy is growing and expanding. Having a healthy and vibrant market based private sector is necessary to produce the revenue to support the necessary functions of government. Private sector employers require economic certainty regarding tax policy in order to make investment decisions and grow their businesses. Changing that economic certainty will discourage investment and expansion of jobs and disrupt the recovery of our state economy.
"In the coming weeks, we should continue to discuss and explore policies that will help build on the good news from the budget forecast and continue to improve Minnesota's economy. We need pro-growth policies that will help grow the economy and jobs rather than job-killing tax increases on small businesses and the middle class, as the Governor and the majority have proposed."