Bakk proposes clothing tax

Posted at 11:06 AM on March 4, 2010 by Tim Pugmire (2 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, MN Legislature

A key legislator say he wants to expand the state sales tax to clothing and use the revenue to reduce the budget deficit and pay off a school funding shift.

Senate tax committee chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, outlined legislation today that he said will also reduce the deficit by $257 million in the first year and repay schools more than $120 million. He said in the second year the overall sales tax rate would drop by one quarter of one percent. Bakk, who's also a DFL candidate for governor, said the change would make the sales tax system less regressive.

"Previous governors since back to when I was in school have always, when the state has had a financial crisis, been willing to consider some revenue," Bakk said. "I would argue this isn't even a tax increase. It's actually a cut."

Senate Republican Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, released a statement in response to Bakk's plan.

"Minnesota families are currently overburdened with excessive taxes and Senator Bakk's call for new tax increases is simply the wrong approach to jump-starting Minnesota's economy," Senjem wrote.

Comments (2)

Bakk is brave and bold in his tax suggestion, and no where near out of line. On this proposal and others related (taxes) we need to hear more, and better, articulation for the case. The situation developing in Baldwin is a case-in-point. Who do they think should help their financial situation if they, themselves, don't want to be taxed?

Posted by Paul D | March 4, 2010 2:16 PM

Expectations for the way women dress are still greater both casually and at work in our culture. Women traditionally make less money than men. Statistics show that women do most of the clothing shopping for their families. I think it can be argued that financial burden of a clothing sales tax will fall more heavily upon females than males. I do not support this idea.
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Posted by georgia heisserer | March 12, 2010 3:49 PM

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