Business coalition takes to airwaves in support of GOP budget

The Coalition of Minnesota Businesses (CMB) this morning announced a statewide TV ad buy.

The ads oppose Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal to increase taxes to solve the $5 billion budget deficit. CMB, which consists of Minnesota’s largest business groups including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership, favors the budget passed by Republican legislators and vetoed by Dayton.

“The responsible budget passed by the Legislature represents a 6 percent increase in spending. In these challenging times, state government should be able to live with a 6 percent increase,” said Business Partnership Executive Director Charlie Weaver.

The campaign also includes cable ads in more than a dozen targeted areas.

State government will shut down on July 1 if Dayton and legislators don’t agree on a 2012-2013 budget.

A spokesman said the coalition is spending a “significant” amount of money on the buy. CMB’s spending, however, doesn’t match the ads supporting Dayton from the union-backed Alliance for a Better Minnesota, which is spending as much as $1 million.

During the 2010 campaign year the CMB’s PAC spent $375,000 on Minnesota races, according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The PAC affiliated with CMB is separate from the issue advocacy on the budget that the group is doing.