Minnesota Lawyer

Just 10 days ago, the Minnesota Management & Budget Office (MMB) released its July 2013 Economic Update. The report showed tax revenue exceeded projections by $463 million or 2.7 percent above forecasted receipts. That’s more than $115 million per month in added revenue since the February 2013 budget forecast.

The big lie about the Democrats’ tax bill is that it raises taxes on all Minnesotans — not just the rich, as Gov. Mark Dayton has professed on numerous occasions.

Today there is more than the St. Croix River that divides Minnesota from Wisconsin. Over the past two years there has been a growing political divide. While Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker may have the same overarching objectives of creating jobs and improving the economy, their solutions for achieving these goals is as different as day and night.

Every year state legislators wish they could do something to stop the continuing escalation of property taxes. And why would the 2013 Legislature be any different than past years when it comes to property taxes?

Now that the 2013 legislative session has concluded, there may be a lot of Minnesota voters who are sorry – sorry about how they voted last fall, or maybe sorry that they didn’t vote. Either way, they’re likely to agree with the sentiment expressed in that 1958 hit record by Connie Francis, “Who’s Sorry Now?”

In the last 30 years, Minnesota legislators and local officials have stumbled and bumbled their way through a half-dozen taxpayer-funded stadium deals. Now, as the 2013 legislative session draws to a close, they are about to commit yet one more in a long list of stadium-building blunders.

With just three weeks before the scheduled adjournment of the 2013 legislative session, the intent of the DFL lawmakers’ actions is clear. They are doing everything imaginable in their power to drive entrepreneurs and job creators out of Minnesota.

Over the past few months, Gov. Mark Dayton and now Attorney General Lori Swanson have made it clear that if you are a small business owner, a larger corporation or even a major philanthropist, you are not welcome in Minnesota.

Last year in May, after 10 years of acrimonious debate over the public funding of a new Vikings stadium, the state Legislature passed a financing package that called for the state to pay $348 million of the $960 million in estimated total construction costs.

As Minnesota’s economy continues to improve, so does the state’s budget picture. Recent employment data shows the state’s unemployment rate has declined to 5.5 percent, far below the national average.