The 2002 Minnesota legislative session begins Tuesday, but already, all major House committees have held hearings to review Gov.

Saturday, January 26, 2002

The 2002 Minnesota legislative session begins Tuesday, but already, all major House committees have held hearings to review Gov. Ventura’s budget recommendations, from Health & Human Services and K-12 Education to Agriculture and Transportation. The House is set to hit the ground running in order to deal with the state’s $1.9 billion budget deficit.

Last week, the administration had the opportunity to detail its proposed tax changes in the House Tax Committee. A central part of the governor’s’s budget-balancing plan is almost $700 million in spending reductions, including about $150 million in reductions in Local Government Aid (LGA). Because rural cities and counties like Albert Lea and Freeborn County have far less tax base than Twin City metro area communities, rural communities rely on local government aid more to keep property taxes down.

I challenged Minnesota Revenue Commissioner Matt Smith that since many cities and counties will have to levy back their lost state aid, isn’t the LGA reductions, in fact, a tax increase? If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s a duck. The cut in LGA – especially to cities such as Albert Lea that are more dependent on state aid – is a tax increase.

I understand that the deficit calls for shared pain, but the closer I examine the governor’s proposed budget, I find that rural Minnesota is bearing a disproportionate share of the burden -&160;reductions in ethanol supports, the end of value-added farm program, and a gas tax increase that will do nothing to improve our roads.

In addition, under the governor’s budget, schools would have to pay sales tax on all their purchases like counties and cities do. Remember, these extra costs are passed on to local property tax payers like you and me. During my two terms at the Legislature, one of the most revisited issues in the Tax Committee was the effort to end these sales taxes. But if the tax is expanded to schools, I fear that these taxes on government purchases will never be repealed.

What do you think? I welcome your input and ideas. Please call me at home at 377-9441 or at the Legislature, toll-free, at 1-877-377-9441. My legislative office address is 579 State Office Building, 100 Constitution Ave., St. Paul, MN 55155. My e-mail address is: rep.dan.dorman@house.leg.state.mn.us.