To the editor,
Gov. Mark Dayton presented his State of the State Address in the House chamber Wednesday. To me, what he did not say rang louder than the words he did use.
First, he trumpeted ongoing construction of two sports stadiums in the Twin Cities. But, conspicuously, he did not highlight the $90 million Senate office complex the majority passed and he approved.
He also indicated transportation funding should be a top priority when the next state budget is drafted in 2015. The governor did not mention, however that we are projected to have a $1.2 billion budget surplus and he did not seek to spend a portion of that on roads and bridges. I proposed using $400 million of the surplus for roads and bridges but did not receive a hearing.
Gov. Dayton also said he is proud of MNsure, even though it has experienced a very rocky start and enrollment has fallen far short of previous projections. It was interesting the governor touted the fact “only” 8 percent of Minnesotans currently are uninsured. What he did not say is that only 7 percent of Minnesotans were uninsured prior to the launch of MNsure. He also did not provide information regarding how many people on MNsure previously lacked insurance. I think what we’ll find is that number will be low, with most of the enrollees simply having been shifted from one government program to another.
The governor said he wants some funding from a bonding bill to be used for providing clean drinking water in the southwest part of our state. What he did not say is one of his very own agencies is working to shut off water for farmers, cities and businesses throughout our area and the state.
We also heard Gov. Dayton take credit for the great things that were done in 2011-12 to help get our state’s economy pointed in the right direction after a severe recession. The Legislature authored and he approved bills that allowed us to eliminate a $6 billion shortfall and generate a $1.2 billion surplus while still providing a funding increase for K-12 education. What Dayton failed to mention is Republican majorities in the House and Senate drafted those bills and he was highly critical of them at the time, only to now jump on board after seeing the positive results.
He made a point of touting $508 million in tax cuts enacted this year. That sounds good on the surface, but what Gov. Dayton did not explain is that tax reduction came after they raised our taxes and fees by $2.4 billion last year.
The governor also mentioned his having dubbed this the “Unsession.” He did not, however, provide details regarding which obsolete government functions have been eliminated, which state boards have been mothballed and how much taxpayers will be saving. Let’s just say that data is short.
It is good our state is in relatively good shape these days after a series of shortfalls during the recent recession. Some of us just have different views regarding what put us in this position and how other more recent decisions position us for the future.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jeff Howe