The Taxpayers League of Minnesota - The Taxpayers League of Minnesota

Another Stadium Blunder

philk@taxpayersleague.org (Phil Krinkie) — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:42:27 -0500

For over thirty years Minnesota legislators and local officials have stumbled and bumbled their way through a half dozen taxpayer funded stadium deals. Now as the 2013 legislative session draws to a close they are about to commit yet one more in a long list of stadium building blunders. This time it’s not the billion dollar football palace for the New Jersey developer Zgyi Wilf, but rather just a small $50 million dollar ballpark in St. Paul. This latest stadium blunder started last year when the state legislature set up an economic development slush fund which allowed Gov. Dayton to pick the winners. In this multi-million dollar give away Gov. Dayton picked his political ally Mayor Chris Coleman to receive $25 million in state taxpayer funds to construct a new ballpark for the St. Paul Saints in downtown St. Paul.

The day after Dayton announced the $25 million award to St. Paul for the ballpark, Mayor Chris Coleman awarded a no bid design build contract for the project. The Mayor’s hasty and illegal actions brought a lawsuit to require a competitive bidding process.

Gov. Dayton then met with his friend Mayor Coleman and suggested that St. Paul should allow an open bidding process. The city then preceded to set-up a sham of a competitive bid process and three months later awarded the contract to the same construction company it previously selected.

Head ‘em up, Round ‘em up, Move ‘em out

philk@taxpayersleague.org (Phil Krinkie) — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:13:30 -0500

Head ‘em up, Round ‘em up, Move ‘em out

Four months ago when the legislative session began no one knew what to expect. It would be the first time in more than 20 years that the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate as well as the Governor’s office.

Now with just three weeks before the scheduled adjournment of the 2013 legislative session the intent of the DFL lawmakers actions are clear. They are doing everything imaginable in their power to drive entrepreneurs and job creators out of Minnesota.

Just like a bunch of young cowboys driving a herd of cattle, the message these cowboys are sending to Minnesota’s small business community is “head ‘em up, round ‘em up and move ‘em out!”

Dayton and Swanson Hang Out the “Not Welcome” Sign

philk@taxpayersleague.org (Phil Krinkie) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:10:40 -0500

By Phil Krinkie

Over the last few months Gov. Dayton and now Attorney General Lori Swanson have made it clear that if you are a small business owner, a larger corporation or even a major philanthropist, you are not welcome in Minnesota. The not welcome here parade started in January when Gov. Mark Dayton released his “tax reform” plan. The Governor’s tax reform plan proposed to add sales to all business to business transactions. His plan drew instant objection from businesses large and small across the state. Because no other state in the country imposes an across the board sales tax on business to business services many companies started to consider the possibility of relocating to another state.

But it wasn’t just Dayton’s business to business tax that got people thinking about relocation. Governor Dayton has also proposed increasing taxes on people who reside outside of the state for more than six months. His so called “snowbird” tax would levy tax penalties on individuals who often want to escape our Minnesota winters and our high tax climate for more weather and tax friendly locations.

The E-Stadium

philk@taxpayersleague.org (Phil Krinkie) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:56:00 -0500

The E-Stadium

By Phil Krinkie

Last year in May after ten years of acrimony and debate over the public funding of a new Vikings stadium the State Legislature passed a financing package, one which calls for the State paying $348 million of the $960 million in estimated total construction costs. It was a long and arduous process for Vikings owner Zygi Wilf who had seen numerous funding proposals twist in the wind and eventually fail to gain legislative approval. But 2012 proved to be different with two persistent bill authors, Senator Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont) and former Representative Morrie Lanning (R-Moorhead). Through numerous committees and several different funding mechanisms, they finally came up with a bill that garnered enough support to win the necessary votes to pass the stadium funding package.

Because of strong public opposition to the use of State General Fund revenue, the financing for the State’s $348 million portion of the $960 construction cost was to be paid for with revenues from a new form of gambling – referred to as E-pull tabs or electronic pull tabs. The concept was that if E-pull tabs were permitted in bars and VFW locations across the state there would be an overwhelming response to the game and millions of dollars would flow into the state treasury. The calculation was that this new gambling device would soon be in over two thousand locations and generate more than $30 million in new revenue every year, enough over 30 years to pay the State’s share of the cost. However, ten months after legislators voted for this mirage of a funding source, the E-funding source for the new billion dollar Viking stadium has E-vaporated. Instead of 2,500 locations with E-pull tabs there are only two hundred, and instead of estimates of over $30 million in new revenue there is less than $2 million flowing into the state coffers.

How to Make a Budget Surplus Disappear

philk@taxpayersleague.org (Phil Krinkie) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:31:31 -0500

March 14^th, 2013

How to Make a Budget Surplus Disappear

By Phil Krinkie

As Minnesota’s economy continues to improve, so does the state’s budget picture. Recent employment data shows the state’s unemployment rate has declined to 5.5%, far below the national average. In the last year alone some 55,000 new jobs were added and more that 60,000 new businesses were registered. These are positive signs for our state’s economic outlook.

Just two weeks ago the latest state budget forecast revealed a dramatic improvement over the last three months. The February forecast indicated a 40% decrease in the deficit for the next biennium. The result is a projected shortfall of $627 million for the 2014-2015 state’s budget. This is a shortfall of less than 2% of the state’s estimated general fund spending of $37 billion for the next two years. Why would anyone want to derail our state’s economic recovery when everything appears to be on the right track?

A close examination of the numbers shows that the state’s growing economy has produced almost three billion dollars more in revenue that predicted just two years ago. Despite this huge boost in revenue, Governor Dayton has claimed that state’s resources are not sufficient and therefore the state needs more tax revenue. To that end Dayton has proposed raising taxes by more than three billion dollars, a whopping tax increase that when combined with federal tax hikes will undoubtedly slow Minnesota’s economic growth.