DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton has made no secret of his plans to tax the wealthiest Minnesotans to help balance the state budget. Not surprisingly, this has brought howls of protest from Republicans, who warn that wealthy Minnesotans will leave the state in droves and that the last to leave will turn out the lights behind them as the state economy shuts down.
We somehow doubt that will happen. Dayton’s proposal would increase the tax rate on the richest 10 percent of Minnesotans to about 12.5 percent, just under what it was in 1994 at the end of Republican Gov. Arne Carlson’s first term. Minnesota’s economy seemed to do quite well, and while some businesses departed for neighboring states, we do not recall there being a mass exodus.
Minnesota ran budget surpluses that were large enough that Carlson’s successor, Gov. Jesse Ventura, and the Legislature decided the state could afford to give some of that money back to taxpayers. They also lowered the tax rate on those at the top of the economic heap.
In retrospect, that largesse appears to have been ill-advised and we believe it should be re-evaluated.
But because of the current recession, we are not convinced the state budget should be balanced solely by raising the income tax rate for those making the most money as Sen. Dayton is proposing. That is not to say that a modest rate increase should not be considered, but other sources of revenue must be sought as well. Some additional spending cuts may be needed, but the candidates need to say what they would cut.
Relying solely on spending cuts to balance the budget is not a solution. If it were, the budget cuts of the last few years should have resulted in a balanced budget. That has not happened, nor will it.
What we would like to hear from the other gubernatorial candidates are specifics as to how they would deal with the on-going budget issue and how they would eliminate the $5.8 billion deficit projected for the next biennium.
Independence Party candidate Tom Horner has said he would consider a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases to balance the budget. DFLers Margaret Anderson-Kelliher and Matt Entenza have been noncommittal as to specifics as has Republican Tom Emmer, beyond the usual vague calls for “reform” and “balance.”
Dayton has characterized his opponents’ lack of specificity as to how they will deal with balancing the projected budget shortfall as ducking the issue and offering only “pablum and platitudes.”
We can agree with him on that. Minnesotans deserve vision and measurable goals from those who would be governor, not more campaign rhetoric.
