When Minnesota’s Commissioner of Management and Budget (MMB) Jim Showalter talked to MNA members earlier this month, he made one thing very clear. We’re on the edge of our seat.
That’s because Minnesota’s revenues are a three-legged stool: sales taxes, income taxes, and property taxes. Problem is, sales taxes have fallen short-27 percent of revenues in the last budget cycle. Meaning MNA members and middle-class Minnesotans are bearing the brunt of state needs with property taxes and income taxes. One leg of our stool is a little short. How short? Minnesotans paid 48 percent of Minnesota’s revenues in personal taxes for 2012-2013. (source: http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/budget/report-pie/general-june12.pdf)
That’s not vertigo we’re feeling – it’s April 15th.
Wednesday night, literally hundreds of Minnesotans lined up to testify in front of the House Tax Committee to lend their voice to how to raise revenue, lower defecits, and stop the roller coaster ride of good years/bad years.
The Governor’s plan is a broad-based approach that brings the state back into balance by asking big corporations to give up tax loopholes and the richest 2 percent to pay the same taxes as middle class families do. Minnesotans of all income levels would see the overall sales tax rate drop 20 percent. That money would be made up by a business taxes that keep companies from hiding profits overseas. Other taxable items that would see new or fairer taxes are gasoline, cigarettes, and clothing over $100. Families would also receive a $500 property tax rebate to make up for years of seeing their tax bills skyrocket, even when property values went down.
“These budget revenue proposals finally get us on a path toward dignity-to a better quality of life and to saving lives,” testified Jennifer Michelson, RN at United Hospitals Cardiovascular Unit, “but they are a smart – and effective – investment for saving health care dollars in the long run.”
“I see people suffer and families grieve. And it is all so unnecessary. Governor Dayton’s budget provides additional revenue sources that will help us all treat each other better. With an expansion of Medicaid we can actually do a better job of preventing heart disease. We can keep people out of the hospital, where expenses are extraordinarily high and treatment is often too late,” Michelson said on Wednesday night.
“MNA has long endorsed incentives to reduce the impact smoking has on the health of all Minnesotans,” said Bernadine Engeldorf, RN at United Hospital in St. Paul, in the area of Mental Health. “As a nurse, I say we must do whatever we can to prevent children from picking up that first cigarette, whether it is by education or financial incentive. Governor Dayton’s cigarette tax takes a bold step to help make that happen. Please move forward to move our state forward by passing this proposed budget, including a tax hike on cigarettes.”
The Governor’s budget invests an additional $52 per student in education while paying back the school shift within 5 years and taking away one of the gimmicks used by previous administrations.
Governor Dayton’s budget proposal is good for patients, nurses and working families across Minnesota. It strengthens the middle class; invests in important state priorities like education, health care, jobs and infrastructure; and manages the cost of government while making the tax system fairer.
Meanwhile, those who say the Governor needs to just cut spending to make the state fairer will continue to make their voice their opposition, but they might have to get used to sitting on a very short stool.