To the editor,
Gov. Mark Dayton’s new budget proposal contains a $3.7 billion tax hike and a $2.7 billion state spending increase.
The tax increases in the governor’s budget proposal would cost all of us. Everything from auto repairs to over-the-counter medication, Internet purchases and haircuts would be taxed. Cigarettes would cost 94 cents more per pack. Clothing items of $100 or more also would be taxed.
If broadening the sales tax were used as a measure to eliminate our high state income tax and make Minnesota a tax-friendly state, it may make some sense. Without reducing the income tax, these regressive taxes will add to a tax burden under which many Minnesotans are already struggling. We just saw our paychecks shrink when the feds allowed payroll taxes to increase.
State officials indicate the governor’s proposed taxes would cost Minnesota’s business owners more than $1.5 billion, causing some to either close their doors or move out of state. Governors in other states already are saying they would step up their game in recruiting Minnesota businesses to relocate. The businesses which stay likely would pass along price increases to consumers, a lose-lose situation.
It disappoints me the governor could be proposing the largest tax increase and most expensive budget in state history but still can’t find a way to pay off our schools. A top priority should be repaying K-12 debt, but the governor’s bill does not resolve this issue until 2017.
This all comes after the governor vetoed a bill Republicans authored last year to accelerate K-12 repayment. Now, the first bill introduced this session by the new House majority would pay off the school debt. We in the minority attempted to fast-track that legislation, but were voted down. It has been collecting dust ever since, without so much as a legislative hearing.
There has also been discussion on a bill that would raise health-insurance costs by collecting up to 3.5 percent of premiums to fund a government super agency to control our entire health-insurance market. In addition to the extra costs to consumers, there are serious data-privacy questions yet to be answered. The problem is, this super agency of seven appointed bureaucrats who would answer to no one and has access to spend taxpayer dollars at its discretion, without oversight.
This is not the basic health care exchange, it reaches far beyond the Obamacare mandates and sets a troubling precedent for our free-market choices. I will keep you posted as things unfold at the Capitol. As always, I welcome your thoughts on the issues.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jeff Howe