Friends and neighbors –
This week the governor unveiled his proposal for Minnesota’s next state budget. I think we were all taken by surprise at the size of his proposal. He continues the state’s culture of reckless spending increases while asking Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens to pay more.
Last week, my colleagues and I announced a set of simple, common sense principles that we would not only use to construct our own budget offer, but that we would also use to evaluate proposals from Gov. Walz and the House. Those principles were the result of feedback I’ve received from countless constituent visits and phone calls. Over and over, you’ve asked me to stress the same goals when putting together our budget.
Unfortunately, Gov. Walz’s budget misses the mark on two out of our four key principles.
First and foremost, he violates our second principle with significant tax increases. We are still working to find the final number, but we know it is at least $3 billion.
- He raises $1.3 billion from the gas tax
- He raises $991 million from reinstating the sick tax
- He raises $848 million in Fiscal Year 2020-21 through selective Minnesota tax conformity to the federal tax bill
- He raises $74 million by clawing back bipartisan tax relief from 2017.
Those highlights do not include increases to license tab fees and the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax.
The gas tax increase is especially egregious because it is so regressive – the folks who are least able to afford it are the ones who will be hurt the most.
Gov. Walz’s plan calls for a 20-cent per gallon gas tax increase, but after a couple years he indexes it to inflation. In other words, under his plan annual gas tax increases will be completely on autopilot.
According to a SurveyUSA poll last November, only 35% of Minnesotans support a gas tax increase. It is incredibly regressive; the families who can least afford it will be hurt the most by it. We reached a bipartisan agreement with Gov. Dayton to permanently fund roads and bridges using existing money, and that’s the approach we should continue.
In addition, it is short sighted to end the permanent, bipartisan funding for roads and bridges that we passed over the last two years only to replace it with a funding source — a gas tax increase – that is far less secure. In fact, revenues from the gas tax will decrease every year starting in 2020 (MNDOT Transportation Funds Forecast November 2018, page 9).
We are still at the beginning of this budget process, and I would love to hear your feedback. Please feel free to give me a call at 651-296-5981 or email me at sen.bruce.anderson@senate.mn to let me know your thoughts.
Talk to you again soon,