GOP stands firm on tax hikes

Posted at 2:05 PM on February 9, 2011 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Republicans in the Minnesota House and Senate are standing firm in their opposition to any plans to raise taxes to balance the state's budget. GOP House Speaker Kurt Zellers and GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch held a news conference after Gov. Dayton's State of the State. They suggested Dayton's speech was looking backwards and did not think Dayton's call for greater investment was necessary as the state faces a $6.2 billion budget deficit.

"He is making promises that he does not have the dollars to support," Koch said.

"If you take away all of the fancy words like investment, Zellers said of Dayton's speech. "It comes down to taxes and spending."

Democrats in the Legislature said Republicans are already raising taxes. They point to the Phase 1 budget bill that cuts aid to cities and counties. Revenue officials estimate it could force local governments to raise $322 million in property taxes.

Comments (2)

more than 60 percent of Minnesotans favor Dayton's plan to raise taxes on top earners.

http://bit.ly/h8If4n

There will be a lot of GOP one termers. They have painted themselves into a corner.

Posted by Bill Gleason | February 9, 2011 2:32 PM

If you are going to site a 5 month old Poll to support a point you should make sure said poll was not before the most recent election. If as you imply the results of the linked poll would lead to many one term GOP legislators, I would respectfully ask why didn't the results of that September poll result in the freshman legislators not being elected in the first place?

Posted by JackU | February 9, 2011 2:39 PM

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories