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OUR OPINION: STATE BUDGET Budget needs a lot of work
If the state of Minnesota had an official Department of Smoke and Mirrors, that office would have certainly earned its keep during the last few legislative sessions.
The Legislature and governor have employed every manner of account shifting and economic maneuvering they could muster in order to overcome years of successive budget shortfalls. All of the temporary fixes have been used up.
Now, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proposed a budget that calls for balancing the budget with $200 million in revenue from the potential licensing of a partially state-run casino in the Twin Cities, even though no agreement exists with any tribe to partner in such a gambling arrangement. In an effort to secure support for the potential casino, the administration has said long-term revenue from this project could be used for new sports stadiums, the arts and other community assets.
While this conceptual casino might promise to be all things to all seekers of state revenue, it doesn't inspire much confidence for the fiscal number-crunchers looking for a stable and dependable source of state revenue.
Pawlenty's budget proposals, which studiously avoid adding new state taxes, do however, recommend extending sales taxes on rental cars and liquors that had been set to expire.
What's disturbing is that in order to keep his no-new tax pledge Pawlenty recommended making thousands of people ineligible for state-subsidized health care. Granted, health care expenses are gargantuan but is this really the most imaginative solution our leaders can come up with to balance the budget -- to simply cut health benefits of those Minnesotans who are on the lower end of the economic scale? When people without health insurance get seriously sick they often end up in the emergency room, driving up health care expenses even more.
Let's hope the governor's budget proposal is a work in progress and that the combined wisdom of the administration and the Legislature will devise a sounder plan before the Legislature adjourns.
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