On the heels of the Minnesota House Democratic majority approving legislation that will increase taxes and fees on all hardworking Minnesotans by $3 billion over the next two years, the Minnesota Senate Democratic majority has presided over a debacle of its own.
Having failed to ask their own members whether or not they supported $1.8 billion in tax increases, the bill failed initially on the floor of the Senate because it did not have enough DFL support. Democratic leadership then twisted some arms, called for another vote, then came back and approved it.
It’s easy to see why the plan gave some Senate Democrats heartburn.
The proposal raises taxes on income, business property and tobacco, and would also lower the states sales tax rate but extend it to clothing, medications, and services like auto repairs and haircuts.
If Senate Democrats can’t even agree with themselves, all of us should be concerned. Many of the Senate’s proposals were actually in Governor Dayton’s original budget proposal. I give the governor credit for listening to business owners and other Minnesotans earlier this year, and coming to the conclusion that many of his proposals were too painful for Minnesotans. Then the Senate majority chose to put many of these onerous tax hikes into their bill. Now all of them will be discussed in a joint House/Senate conference committee, a group which will create a compromise tax increase plan that can be stomached by the Democratic majority in both legislative bodies.
This Democratic compromise is serious legislation that is going to raise your taxes. This is not going to be a proposal that will just tax the rich. Under both the House and Senate bills everyone will be paying more.
Remember, House Democrats want to raise taxes on your income, alcohol, cigarettes, and all sports memorabilia. The conference committee could choose to accept any or all of the tax increase proposals brought forward by either the House or Senate; it all just depends on how much new spending legislative Democrats want to force upon hardworking taxpayers this session.
We should always have the debate between increasing revenue and responsible spending, but the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate have both decided the only way to move this state forward is to increase taxes. Now is the time to stand up and make your voice heard. In a couple of weeks, the final tax and spend decisions will be completed, and unless things change, you’re not going to like them.