Minnesota Legislature: Minnesota's Budget Crisis



Senate DFLers said on Friday they will pass $1 billion income tax increase aimed at the state's top earners to raise more money for education. House DFLers also want to raise taxes on the highest incomes. Gov. Pawlenty says he will veto any tax increase. (03/30/2007)
There's a lot of tax talk at the Capitol, and the governor has said he will veto any of the tax bills being considered in the House and Senate. If he holds firm on his veto threat, what next? (03/29/2007)
They're proposing a mix of tax increases to pay for new spending and property tax relief. So far this session they've been passing bare-bones spending bills for things like K-12 schools and higher education. (03/28/2007)
Senators voted 57-to-7 to set aside $629 million of the budget surplus in case of a downturn in the economy. It would bring Minnesota's reserve to 5 percent of state spending. (03/28/2007)
With only three votes to spare, the House on Tuesday night passed a public works bill that would advance some high-profile mass transit projects and take care of the more mundane roof repairs. (03/27/2007)
The leaders of some fast-growing rural Minnesota towns say they're being cheated out of their fair share of money from the state. (03/27/2007)
The Senate Capital Investment Committee endorsed a bill that would establish a special borrowing authority and give the school a leg up in the annual scramble for construction dollars. (03/26/2007)
The House legislation includes several other tax increases as well. Gov. Pawlenty has threatened to veto a gas tax increase, and the votes in both chambers fell short of the margin required to override a veto. (03/24/2007)
Democrats in the Minnesota Senate have made their position clear on the need for a large state investment into roads, bridges and transit. They passed a transportation funding bill Friday that includes a 10-cent per gallon gas tax increase, setting up a showdown with Gov. Pawlenty. (03/23/2007)
Property taxes. Income taxes. Gas taxes. The Legislature is considering a number of proposals this session to raise revenue and shift the tax burden around. (Midday, 03/22/2007)
The Mall of America is proposing a $1.5 billion project that would double the size of the retail and tourist attraction in Bloomington. But the mall's plan faces powerful skeptics who represent its neighbors. (03/21/2007)
The tax committee in the Minnesota House took up a series of property tax measures Tuesday that came from an unusual source -- ordinary taxpayers. (03/20/2007)
Just as DFL lawmakers start a push for higher taxes on businesses and the wealthy, a state report using 2004 tax data indicates that middle-class Minnesotans are getting stuck with an increasing share of the tax tab. (03/20/2007)
A few Republicans in the House have already voted in support of the bill. But for DFL lawmakers, the prospect of a veto override still appears out of their reach. (03/19/2007)
The proposal they unveiled on Friday would create a new income tax bracket for an estimated 28,000 Minnesotans. Republicans claim the tax will drive people out of the state. (03/16/2007)

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