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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2007
Contact: Phil Krinkie
Ph: (651) 294-3590 ext 202
What part of “NO” didn’t Legislators understand?
Taxpayers win as Governor Pawlenty vetoes the omnibus tax bill!
ST. PAUL – In a message to lawmakers that reiterated his opposition to a measure in the tax bill that would have put state expenditures on autopilot, Governor Pawlenty yesterday made good on his intent to veto the omnibus tax bill. The veto of the tax bill is an unequivocal win for any Minnesotan who owns a home, runs a business or pays income taxes.
By vetoing a second major tax bill, Governor Pawlenty has put an exclamation point on his $35 billion state budget plan that will increase spending by $3 billion without raising taxes – something he had set out to do at the start of the 2007 legislative session.
While the DFLs plan to add inflationary increases to budget projections was Governor Pawlenty’s primary criticism of the bill, he also expressed reservations about other initiatives such as an attempt to buy down property taxes by funneling money through local governments, rate increases for utilities and pipelines, and the method of subsidy for the Mall of America’s expansion plan.
“Whether it was automatically adding inflation to the budget, the DFLs property tax “relief” shell game or any of the other bad policy provisions that led to its veto, Minnesota taxpayers should be thankful that Governor Pawlenty stuck to his principles and vetoed this bill,” said Phil Krinkie, President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.
“I applaud Governor Pawlenty for his leadership during the 2007 session. He laid out a clear budget plan with fiscal discipline and held tight to that plan throughout a contentious legislative session. Minnesota’s financial future is brighter because of the Governor’s bold leadership,” concluded Krinkie.
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