Dear Neighbor,
Oh, how times change. Gov. Mark Dayton not only is finally coming around to supporting the budget Republicans drafted in 2011, now it seems he wants to take credit for improvements it has brought us.
This is the same governor who said back in July of 2011 that Republicans will have to take responsibility for future budget problems. He also made it clear he did not agree with our approach.
Now, here we are almost three years later and the governor used his State of the State Address this Wednesday to, in part, take credit for our state’s economic turnaround that started with the 2011 budget Republicans shaped. We inherited a $6 billion shortfall that year, but wiped that away and got our economy turned around to the point we have a $1 billion projected surplus.
Another interesting part of the governor’s speech is where he touted tax cuts. The problem is this year’s tax cuts account for only a small percentage of the $2.4 billion in tax increases and fees they enacted last year. It is good we were able to convince Dayton and fellow Democrats to repeal their new taxes on warehousing, telecommunications and commercial equipment repairs, but most of their other increases remain in effect.
Dayton also used his speech to brag about MNsure, even though the program has failed from the start in a number of regards. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to start this program, some 280,000 Minnesotans were forced off health plans they chose with doctors they liked, data breaches have occurred and the program has a projected shortfall. The younger, healthier demographics necessary to pay for this program have been slow to enroll in MNsure, jeopardizing its sustainability for the long haul. Just this week, MNsure announced that once again would be delaying its enrollment deadline for some Minnesotans who qualify, another example of how this program is faltering.
The governor also brought up the “Unsession” theme he started a couple of years ago. Again, I fully support cutting out wasteful government, but the results just aren’t there with Democrats shaping the agenda. We haven’t cut unnecessary boards and very minimal tax dollars will be saved. In fact, more than 1,500 bills have been introduced this year to create even more laws and add government.
This year’s State of the State Address came a couple months later than normal, putting a different twist on his message. The session is scheduled to adjourn May 19, meaning there is not enough time for the majority to take things he promoted in the Address, put them in bill form and conduct due legislative process.
Maybe that is the silver lining in this speech.
Sincerely,
Tom