 THE DFL PAY RAISE
Should Minnesota's budget surplus be used to pad the already generous salaries of state legislators? The DFL House and Senate say "You Betcha!"
Let's say you go to Target and buy a shirt for $16. You hand the cashier a $20 bill. Instead of giving you $4 change, she just smiles at you and urges you to be on your way. Wouldn't you be angry?
Your state legislature is doing exactly that. They are receiving $2.3 billion more in taxes than they planned to spend. But instead of returning the budget surplus to you, the money is being spent. Even worse, they are spending it on themselves!
The base annual salary for our legislators is $31,141. Add to that a per diem allowance, a housing allowance, and a generous retirement package, and the income quickly builds.
The top per diem taker in the MN Senate lives less than three miles from the state capitol -- St. Paul Democrat Sandy Pappas accepted $10,824 in per diem payments in 2006. In the House it's former speaker Steve Swiggum, the Republican from Kenyon, who accepted $10,267.
The per diem money is tax free -- that's right, they want to tax your income, but they pay zero taxes on their per diem-- and requires no receipts.
On top of their salaries and per diem, state lawmakers also get a very generous housing allowance of up to $1,200 per month -- all year long whether the legislature is in session or not.
So what did the DFL legislature do -- they INCREASED their per diem in 2007 -- from $66 to $96 per day in the Senate and from $66 to $77 in the House.
$96 per day? What are they eating -- lobster?
This secret income supplement -- no receipts are required to receive the money -- takes many thousands of dollars out of the state budget -- money that could be used for schools, roads, or to fight crime. The Star Tribune estimates that in 2007 alone, an EXTRA $800,000 will be transferred directly from your pockets to your state lawmakers just to pay for their most recent salary increases.
The DFL plans to spend your $2.3 billion state budget surplus. The money -- all of it -- ought to go back to you.
| 55 DFL Tax Bills for 2007 that you need to know about. |
03/12/2007: Leo Pusateri: DFL arrogance? Remember in November! |
02/12/2007: MN Senate Vote : DFL Senate votes to spend your surplus on their per diem. |
| 05/18/2007: Brad Kustermann: Shouldn't the DFL add the word "Socialism" to their name? |
03/01/2007: Brian Lundquist, Former Chanhassen City Councilmember: Give the surplus back to the taxpayers! |
01/23/2007: Gary Gross: DFLers are spendaholics. |
| 05/16/2007: King Banaian: How the DFL's noble goal of raising taxes will hurt you. |
02/26/2007: MN House Vote : DFL House votes EIGHT TIMES to spend your surplus on their per diem. |
01/18/2007: Brad Kustermann: Stop raising taxes! |
| 04/06/2007: Katherine Kersten: Time to call out the DFL on their tax increase frenzy. |
02/25/2007: Randy Krebs, St. Cloud Times Opinion Editor: Per Diem increase makes us gag! |
01/11/2007: Brian Bakst, Associated Press |
| 04/04/2007: Teresa Bohnen, Chamber of Commerce President says DFL taxes will kill business. |
02/25/2007: Darrell Ehrlick, Winona Daily News Opinion Editor: DFL says money is scarce, but hike their pay anyway. |
01/10/2007: Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune |
| 03/29/2007: Gary Gross, Hey, DFL, what's with all the tax increases? |
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DFL TAX BILLS FOR 2007
| DFL STICKER SHOCK: $5 BILLION IN NEW TAXES -- "Despite earlier pledges of fiscal restraint, DFLers in the Legislature are proposing increases in the income tax, gasoline tax, sales tax, liquor tax and license tab fees, along with new levies on lead paint, gravel, deeds and cosmetic surgery. It's unlikely that all of them will get passed. If that happens, the total would approach $5 billion for 2008-09." (Patricia Lopez and Conrad deFiebre, "Wave Of Tax Increases Could Be Coming," Star Tribune, March 11, 2007) |
In 2006, the Democrats said NOTHING about raising taxes. They seemed to agree that a billion dollars of new taxes and spending would be enough for 2007. But now they have proposed $2,500 of added taxes for the two million Minnesotans who pay taxes every day:
(1) INCOME TAX -- Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) wants to raise income taxes by $252 million. (House File 1738)
(2) INCOME TAX -- Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington) wants to raise income taxes on 170,000 taxpayers. She added this tax increase with an amendment to House File 1258. It would collect millions more in income taxes.
(3) INCOME TAX -- Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth) wants to raise all three brackets by about 10% above current levels. Estimated revenue would be $1.2 billion. (House File 1932 -- Let us hope the number is coincidental)
(4) SALES TAX ON CLOTHING -- Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) wants to add sales taxes on things ranging from baby’s first hair cut to grandpa’s funeral. She wants to impose sales taxes on clothing, magazines, car repairs, legal services to individuals, accounting for individuals, financial services for individuals, brokerage services for individuals, tattoos, body-piercing, hair cuts, hair styling, hair extensions, facials, body wraps, shaving and waxing, tanning services, manicures, pedicures, insulin, medical oxygen, over-the-counter drugs, prescription eyeglasses, and funeral services. (House File 2163)
(5) SALES TAX -- Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) wants to impose an extra sales tax to pay for transit and other purposes. In the Metro area, there would be one tax increase. In the rest of the state, the new tax could be proposed by any two or more county boards. (House File 1463)
(6) SALES TAX -- Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) would impose an extra sales tax to raise at least $500 million a year pay for new parks, trails, and habitat projects. (House File 1449)
(7) SALES TAX -- Rep. Shelley Madore (DFL-Apple Valley) wants to impose an extra sales tax on the three million people in the metro area to pay for more buses and trolleys. (House File 1112)
(8) TAX THE DEAD -- Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-International Falls) wants to authorize a new tax on dead people in his area to pay for the Lakeview Cemetery Association. (House File 213)
(9) TAX THE DEAD -- Rep. Bernie Lieder (DFL-Crookston) wants to triple a tax on hearses. (House File 946)
(10) TAX DRIVERS AND HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Ken Tschumper (DFL-La Crescent) wants to raise fuel taxes by 50 percent on gasoline, E85, M85, liquefied petroleum gas, propane, liquefied natural gas, and compressed natural gas. (House File 1469)
(11) TAX DRIVERS -- Rep. Bernie Lieder (DFL-Crookston) wants to raise your gas taxes by 50 percent, AND allow counties to charge you a wheelage tax, AND triple the tax on cars and hearses, AND allow counties to raise the sales tax, AND put a transportation-impact tax on every building permit, AND raise the cost to register vehicles. (House File 946)
(12) TAX DRIVERS -- Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to let any three-county panel impose sales and use taxes on motor vehicles. (House File 1920)
(13) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Scott Kranz (DFL-Blaine) wants to slap homeowners with a 50 percent increase when filing any papers related to the purchase, transfer, mortgaging, sale, or other transfer of property. Money from those taxes on homeowners would be given to non-homeowners seeking to rent property or buy their own homes. (House File 939)
(14) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Anoka County. (House File 362)
(15) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. (House File 1042)
(16) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Dakota County. (House File 1466)
(17) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. David Dill (D-Crane Lake) wants airport authorities to send a bill to county commissioners instructing them to impose and deliver property taxes from all land-owners who have property in the area of district boundaries of the airport authority. (House File 2287)
(18) TAX HOMEOWNERS -- Rep. Bill Hilty (D- Finlayson) wants to raise the fees on mortgage firm’s employees by 588 percent (up from $850 to $5,000) for new licenses and by 555 percent (up from $450 to $2,500) for license renewals. (House File 2305)
(19) PAINT TAX -- Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to tax the paint on your house (Senate File 836) There is no House companion to this Senate bill yet.
(20) LIGHT BULB TAX -- Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to impose a 25-cent tax on every incandescent light bulb in the state. (House File 2156). Fluorescent bulbs (the alternative to incandescents) not only contain dangerous levels of mercury, but their flickering has also been found to cause siezures in some people.
(21) COSMETIC SURGERY TAX -- Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to tax cosmetic surgery. This would be a bad precedent the sales tax, which generally has applied only to goods (except for food, clothing, and a few other exceptions). (House File 1027)
(22) TAX BEER AND WINE -- Rep. Michael Paymar (DFL-St. Paul) wants to pile enormous tax increases on beverages containing alcohol. He would raise taxes on metric sales beverages by the following percentages: distilled spirits (up 228%); wine (up 450%); hard cider (up 800%); regular beer (up 790%); and 3.2% beer (up 457%). It would collect over $110 million in new taxes. (House File 1050)
(23) TAX BEER AND WINE -- Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) is seeking similar increases in taxes on alcohol, but for other purposes. (House File 1446)
(24) TAX YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY -- Rep. Joe Mullery (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to put a 10% tax on people who give gifts. If the donor does not pay the tax, then the tax liability shifts to the person who received the gift. In such cases, the donor would still be liable for a $100 penalty for not paying the gift tax. Under the bill, you could be required to show the gift to the Commissioner of Revenue to determine its true worth. (House File 1212)
(25) TAX JOBS -- Rep. Joe Mullery (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to punish “foreign operating corporations,” which are major local employers whose success has allowed them to do business in other states and countries. (House File 943)
(26) TAX YOUR PHONE -- Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center) wants to raise a tax on cell phones, land-line phones, and other telecommunications devices by 46%. (House File 1464)
(27) PROPERTY TAX -- Rep. Will Morgan (DFL-Burnsville) wants to create special tax increment financing districts in Burnsville. These districts often shift property tax burdens onto current landowners for years. (House File 1054)
(28) PROPERTY TAX -- Rep. Carolyn Laine (DFL-Columbia Heights) wants to create a special tax increment financing district in Columbia Heights. (House File 1879)
(29) PROPERTY TAX -- Rep. Carolyn Laine (DFL-Columbia Heights) wants to create a tax increment financing district in Fridley. (House File 2121)
(30) PROPERTY TAX -- Rep. Deb Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center) wants to shift property taxes from one set of residents to another by expanding the use of the local tax increment financing district. (House File 2193)
(31) PROPERTY TAX --Rep. Deb Hilstrom (D-Brooklyn Center) wants to shift property taxes from one set of residents to another by expanding the use of the local tax increment financing district. (House File 2192)
(32) PROPERTY TAX -- Rep. Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn Park) wants to shift property taxes to regular citizens in order to give tax increment relief to the owners of the Mall of America who want to expand the facility without paying sales taxes on the materials for the expansion. The state would provide $180 million to build new parking ramps, and Bloomington taxpayers would provide $42 million for new streets, water, sewer, and other improvements (TOTAL: $222 million). (House File 2237)
(33) RAISE YOUR SALES TAX TO PAY FOR ARTS -- Rep. Tony Sertich (D-Chisholm) wants to raise the sales tax by at least $17 million to pay more for the arts and for natural resources projects. (House File 2285)
(34) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) wants to raise local sales and use taxes in Bemidji. (House File 1103)
(35) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Ken Tschumper (DFL-La Crescent) wants to impose a local sales tax in Lanesboro. (House File 2243)
(36) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Rick Hansen (D-South St. Paul) would impose a local food and beverage tax on Mendota. (House File 2261)
(37) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Bernie Lieder (DFL-Crookston) wants to raise local sales and use taxes in Crookston. (House File 1820)
(38) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Terry Morrow (DFL-St. Peter) wants a new local sales tax authorized for North Mankato. (House File 108)
(39) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL-Finlayson) wants a new local sales tax authorized for Cloquet. (House File 885)
(40) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Dave Dill (DFL-Crane Lake) would extend local sales taxes in Cook County. (House File 1894)
(41) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Dave Dill (DFL-Crane Lake) wants to impose a local sales and use tax on Ely. (House File 2059)
(42) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth) to raise taxes on food and beverages in Duluth to help to pay for a new hockey arena in that city. (House File 134)
(43) LOCAL SALES TAX -- Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South Saint Paul) wants to impose a food and beverage tax on Lilydale. (House File 2102)
(44) TAX BUSES -- Rep. Shelley Madore (DFL-Apple Valley) wants to expand the levy for the Metro Transportation District to all the counties in the Metro Area. (House File 2140)
(45) TAX PRISONS -- Rep. Larry Haws (DFL-St. Cloud) wants to raise fees for county and regional jails. (House File 161)
(46) TAX YOUR VCR -- Rep. Brita Sailer (DFL-Park Rapids) wants to raise fees on video and electronic equipment sales. (House File 854)
(47) TAX YOUR CIGARETTES -- Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) wants to impose an extra $250 fee on cigarette manufacturers. (House File 1737)
(48) TAX SNUFF -- Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to put a tax of 91-cents-per-ounce on moist snuff. (House File 2311)
(49) TAX DRUGS -- Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) wants to raise pharmacy fees automatically on an annual basis. (House File 1722)
(50) TAX HUNTERS -- Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South Saint Paul) wants to raise fees on deer hunters. (House File 278)
(51) TAX BOATS -- Rep. Bev Scalze (DFL-Little Canada) wants to raise the fees on all watercraft. On boats over 19-feet long, she would add a $25 surcharge to a $27 fee. (House File 2216)
(52) TAX ELECTRICITY BILLS -- Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to raise the surcharge on your retail electricity bills to pay for a rebate program for the installation or use of solar technologies. (House File 2384)
(53) TAX BILLBOARDS -- Rep. Michael Paymar (DFL-St. Paul) introduced three bills to: (1) declare a state-wide moratorium on new billboards; (2) change rules to shorten the survival of existing billboards; and (3) put a new $500 surcharge on billboards, with the revenue to be used to buy and destroy existing billboards. (House Files 2189, 2202, and 2203).
(54) GAS TAX -- Rep. Lyle Koenen (DFL-Clara City) wants to raise your gas taxes, your special fuel taxes, and to create a new motor vehicle sales tax. (House File 2219)
(55) GAS TAX -- Rep. Ken Tschumper (DFL-La Crescent) wants to raise fuel taxes by 50 percent on gasoline, E85, M85, liquefied petroleum and natural gas, propane and compressed natural gas. (House File 1469)
(56) TAX BREAKS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS -- Democrats are famous for claiming that we do not have enough money for education. But now they want to siphon off even more funds to support people who do not deserve it. Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center) has proposed giving in-state college tuition to illegal aliens who file a paper saying they are applying to legalize their immigration status. The same bill would scrap reciprocity agreements for students from Wisconsin or other states that give students a lower tuition rate. Welcome, Illegal aliens -- Badgers go home! (House File 682) Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul) is authoring the DREAM Act ("DREAM" stands for "Development, Relief and Education for Illegal Alien Minors"). This law provides an even easier route for illegal aliens to get in-state tuition than under Rep. Hilstrom’s House File 682. Under Rep. Mariani’s version, illegal aliens would get discount tuition if they've spent three years in a Minnesota high school, earned a GED, and promised to file to become resident aliens at their earliest possible opportunity. In other words, if they have managed to break U.S. law for at least three years without getting caught, the Minnesota DFL wants to reward them with tax supported in-state tuition. NOTE: Rep. Maria Ruud voted YES on this bill. (House File 722) Rep. Diane Loeffler (DFL-Minneapolis) wants to totally eliminate in-state tuition advantages for Minnesota citizens at MnSCU colleges and universities. (House File 1032)
The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the St. Cloud Times 05/18/2007:
'Socialism' should be added to DFL's name
By Brad Kustermann, St. Cloud
About a year ago, I read a letter that stated how the DFL Party should add an "S" to its acronym. The "S" stood for socialism.
After the bills that have been proposed and passed this legislative session, that letter couldn't be more accurate.
First, the definition of socialism, according to Karl Marx, is the redistribution of wealth and/or government ownership of the means of production, but let's not get bogged down in definitions.
Socialism means taking from the people who have something, what the DFL calls wealth, and giving it to people who they think need it, likely voters.
One could call it "Robin Hood" politics, but to most, it's called stealing.
That brings me to our DFL(S)-dominated Legislature. This year the DFL(S) has executed an all-out assault on taxpayers, and we're not just talking about creating a fourth income tax bracket to pay down property taxes, either.
Between the House and Senate, the DFL(S) has proposed to raise taxes on:
» Gasoline, E85, wheelage, triple the tax on cars and hearses.
» 50 percent fee increase for homeowners when they file any papers related to the purchase, transfer, mortgaging, sale or other transfer of property.
» Higher taxes on local deeds.
» 10 percent tax on birthday and anniversary gifts, cell phones, landline phones, video and electronic equipment, wine, hard cider, beer, food and clothes.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, people!
So while you are contacting your legislator to create a fourth income tax bracket on the so-called rich for property tax relief, remember the DFL(S) has their hands in your pockets, too!
Before I forget, the Legislature also voted to raise their per diem expense by more than $30 a day. |
The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the St. Cloud Times 05/16/2007:
“Noble purpose” of tax increase will backfire on Minnesotans
By King Banaian, St. Cloud
Much of the debate about taxes in Minnesota these days revolves around how the rich do not pay their fair share. The most commonly cited statistic is that the middle class pays a higher share of their income in taxes than the rich, and that sounds unfair.
The statistic comes from a report done biannually by the Minnesota Department of Revenue called the Tax Incidence Study. The latest report, using 2004 data, shows that the median taxpaying family in Minnesota paid an effective state and local tax rate of more than 12 percent, but the top 10 percent of the income distribution paid 10.9 percent.
Tax study
Most readers of the study have focused on the residential property tax as the biggest culprit in this unfair tax situation. As a result, the Legislature now proposes to raise the personal income tax on the very top of taxpayers to pay for property tax relief.
Some media reports and the DFL call this a "tax swap," but whose taxes are being swapped?
The tax-incidence study assumes businesses move capital around in response to tax rates; if business taxes are raised in Minnesota, some of those taxes are shifted onto consumers in higher prices, some onto workers in lower wages, and some disappear as corporations move to other states. That shifting is what leads to the result that higher-income families pay less of the taxes.
Shifting taxes
Yet the study assumes that when someone's individual income taxes increase, no shifting happens. More than 100,000 firms, however, form themselves as S-corporations, up from 48,000 in 1994, during which time the number of C-corporations stayed flat at fewer than 55,000.
The S-corporation is a form of business operation in which the owner receives his income, and pays taxes, through the personal income tax. C-corporations pay the corporate franchise tax.
It is curious, then, that we assume one kind of corporation can shift taxes but the other cannot. And this ignores the sole proprietorships and partnerships that also receive income and pay income taxes at the individual rate. Such families and businesses are mobile.
According to a State Demographic Data Center study, 23.2 percent of families with heads of household from ages 35 to 54 that left Minnesota from 1995-2000 had household income of more than $100.000. The median income for people that age who moved into the state was $2,000 less. Thus Minnesota lost income, production and tax base due to migration when the top individual income tax rate held at 7.85 percent.
Not a good idea
What will happen if we raise the rate to 9 percent? And who bears the burden of the individual income tax increase?
The Tax Incidence Study says the "incidence of a particular Minnesota tax on business depends on how Minnesota's tax rate compares to those of other states." The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce reports that from 1998-99 Minnesota lost $170 million of income to migration to Florida, Arizona, South Dakota, North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada.
No doubt warm weather for retirees played some role, but three states ( Florida, South Dakota and Nevada) have no state individual income tax, and two others, Colorado and Arizona, have rates far below current Minnesota rates. An increase could accelerate the outflow of higher-income earning families. So some will leave. Others will raise prices and lower wages, even if the study assumes they don't.
From where will Minnesotans get their property tax relief? From the people who get the lower wages, the higher prices, and the entrepreneurs we do not drive out of the state. If there are any.
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King Banaian is the blogger who writes SCSU Scholars, formerly a group blog but now a solo operation. Aside from blogging, he is a Professor of Economics, as well as Chairman of that department at Saint Cloud State University. He writes often on issues of money
and central banking, and was an advisor to the Ukrainian central
bank in 1996. His 1986 dissertation was on political business cycles.
He is also an author and his latest book is due out in May 2008.
Read discussion of this column here.
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The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune 04/06/2007:
The Inside Story on DFL Legislators’ Appetite for Taxes
By Katherine Kersten, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
On Nov. 2, 2006, just before the election, Gary Eichten of Minnesota Public Radio’s “Midday” program hosted a roundtable discussion with legislative leaders. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, now speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was among the four. Eichten went around the table with a question: “Other than a possible gas tax increase, do you see any need to raise taxes in the next couple of years?” Kelliher’s answer? A decisive “no.”
Today, Kelliher has settled into her leadership role, and the DFL has proposed a jaw-dropping $5 billion in tax increases, according to House Republican caucus calculations. The Senate has passed an almost $1 billion income tax increase, proposing the nation’s highest tax rate on top earners, and the House’s increase is not far behind. Both chambers have approved a gas tax increase of 50 percent and a metrowide sales tax increase.
Next time around, Minnesota voters will know what Kelliher’s assurances mean.
But aren’t the bulk of new taxes only on the super-rich? Not the gas tax or the sales tax, or increases in business taxes that get passed on to consumers and employees.
And if you look beyond the tax increases that have passed to those being proposed by one DFLer or another — well, you’d probably rather not.
“The Democrats are proposing increases on everything that lives, moves and dies,” marvels Rep. Steve Sviggum.”
Take the proposed increase of 360 percent in beer taxes. “That’s the stuff I drink,” says Sviggum, who farms near Kenyon. The Chardonnay crowd gets soaked, too, with a 350 percent boost on wine.
Anyone in your family have a cell phone, or three? A DFL bill would raise the maximum tax — er, “fee” — on telecommunications devices by 46 percent.
Last time I checked, folks in subsidized housing had to turn on the lights like everyone else. They may want to shut a few off, with a proposed 25-cent tax on every incandescent light bulb.
How about your wheels? DFLers propose tripling the registration tax on cars (your used Ford Taurus as well as new BMWs), raising the cost of license tabs and allowing counties to charge a wheelage tax.
Then there’s the proposal to allow cities and counties to impose a transportation-impact fee on building permits. When you dine at the Applebee’s that just went up around the corner, you’ll pay for it.
The list goes on: A proposed tax increase on gifts (maybe next year, Grandma), cosmetic surgery, even gravel.
The DFL won’t even let you die in peace. When you keel over in shock at all of the above, a bill would triple the tax on your hearse.
What happened between Kelliher’s pre-election “no” to new taxes, and today? DFLers are now insisting that new taxes are essential to fund the state’s basic needs.
But that’s balderdash. Minnesota’s budget for this biennium is $31.5 billion. Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget proposal would spend $34.6 billion in 2008-09. That’s an almost 10 percent increase in available funds, without raising taxes.
“Most reasonable people say you ought to be able to live with that,” says Sviggum.
But the DFLers are driven by a voracious pent-up demand, after eight years out of power in the House and 17 years since the last DFL governor.
They also face the politician’s perennial problem of overpromising to special constituencies. Even as Kelliher was dispelling concern about new taxes on “Midday,” DFLers were making lavish promises to every spending interest in the state –for universal health care, all-day kindergarten, greatly expanded K-12 spending, environmental improvements and local government aid.
Now they’ve got to make good on those promises. Or do they?
DFLers know they can party like there’s no tomorrow, because there’s at least one grown-up in the neighborhood. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has assured Minnesotans that his veto pen is ready. When our legislators clear their bleary heads in June, they’ll have a ready-made excuse for special interest groups: “I wanted to give you the moon, but that tightwad in the governor’s mansion wouldn’t let me.” |
The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the St. Cloud Times 04/04/2007:
Senate bills will harm, not help small businesses
By Teresa Bohnen, President St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce
I am writing on behalf of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors to voice our disappointment and frustration with the Senate tax bills that were passed Friday and Saturday — SF 1024 and SF 1611.
Every business owner in the St. Cloud area will feel the impact of these bills. With no alternative, the additional costs to businesses will certainly be passed on to consumers as price increases and inflation. The overall impact will be a declining state economy we cannot afford.
We are concerned about the impact of a statewide business property tax increase of $222 million in fiscal 2008-09 that grows to $476 million in fiscal 2010-11.
In our presession meetings with legislators, we stressed the importance of protecting the property tax reform that chambers of commerce achieved for our members in 1998.
Minnesota businesses already have three times the property tax burden of homeowners and pay among the highest property taxes in the country.
The Senate is also supporting the highest personal income tax bracket in the country at 9.7 percent.
Our Chamber views this as a tax on our small business owners, partnerships and sole proprietors who run their business income through their personal taxes.
The long-term impact of such a tax increase is to run small businesses out of Minnesota, just as retirees with accumulated assets have been run out before them.
Small businesses are the life-blood of our Chamber of Commerce and our community.
This $1.5 billion tax increase sends an alarming message of disregard for the future of our state's economy and the businesses, small and large, rural and metro, that provide jobs to Minnesota citizens. |
The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the St. Cloud Times 03/29/2007:
DFLers, what's with all these tax increases?
By Gary Gross, St. Cloud
A lot has changed since I attended a town hall meeting hosted by Sen. Tarryl Clark and Reps. Larry Haws and Steve Gottwalt in January.
After the meeting, Clark stopped to visit and I asked her why the first six bills introduced in the Senate each included tax increases. At that time, Clark said the Senate would only focus on two tax bills, including one that would cut property taxes.
Last week we learned that a bill submitted by Sen. Steve Murphy was "being fast-tracked" to the Senate floor and that it included an assortment of tax increases, including a gas-tax increase that would more than double the gas tax during the next decade.
To his credit, Murphy said, "I'm not trying to fool anybody. There's a lot of taxes in this bill." If that isn't enough to get your blood boiling, then consider that Sen. Sandy Pappas thinks a 9.5 percent increase in the higher education budget — a $296 million increase — is "starving higher education." What's worse is that she's predicting that tuitions will increase despite this increase.
What makes her comments disgusting is several colleges are charging in-state tuition to students who don't live in reciprocity states. Minnesota's taxpayers are subsidizing those special tuition rates.
The other bad news is that they're using this subsidy to attract more students, then telling the Legislature that they need more money to reduce class sizes. In other words, the DFL is intent on increasing taxes while increasing college tuitions while we're subsidizing students from anywhere in the world.
I don't think that's a good deal for Minnesota's taxpayers. |
The following letter to the editor is reprinted from the St. Cloud Times 03/12/2007:
Voters should take note of DFL's taxing leadership
By Leo Pusateri, St. Cloud
The arrogance of the Minnesota DFL knows no bounds. First, they voted themselves a per diem allowance increase that would give them more untaxable money to eat in one day than an average person spends on groceries for a week, and went on to attempt to punish those who voted against the extravagance.
Then, after our being overtaxed to the tune of more than $2 billion, they now have the nerve to want to confiscate even more money from us in the form of wheelage tax increases, extra taxes on cosmetic surgery, and even an increase on already confiscatory income tax rates.
The DFL's blatant arrogance and reckless stewardship of hard-earned taxpayer dollars has even led DFL Rep. Cy Thao (DFL 65-A) to reportedly proclaim to Steve Gottwalt, "When you guys win, you get to keep your money. When we win, we take your money."
It is my fervent hope that such blatant levels of arrogance by the DFL will be long remembered when voters return to the polls in coming elections.
No such "good intentions" should ever go unpunished. |
The following article is reprinted from the Chanhassen Villiager 03/01/2007 (Stats and comments on the right were added and WERE NOT part of the original article):
Budget Surplus
By Brian Lundquist, former Chanhassen City Councilmember
As our legislative session kicks into high gear, there is lots of "talk" about all the issues and even some action -- but I wonder "Are we talking about the right stuff?"
We got some great news early in the year about a projected $2 billion surplus in the state coffers. Happy days are here again! The interesting thing is how quickly everyone lined up to get a piece of it and in addition to that how many tax increase bills are still being proposed. Here are some interesting statistics:
According to MSN, these are the top 5 highest taxed states (federal, state and local taxes) in the U.S.
1. Connecticut - 35.9%
2. New York - 35.1%
3. New Jersey - 34.3%
4. Washington - 33.7%
5. Minnesota - 33.6%
Over one third of your family's income -- money you need for food, your kids, your future -- is taken from you in taxes. But the DFL . . . wants more! |
|
The Tax Foundation lists Minnesota's total tax burden at fifth largest in the country at 33.6 percent.
Our tax freedom day is May 3rd. That means 33.6 cents of every dollar the average Minnesotan earns goes to pay some sort of tax and it takes your salary from January 1 to May 3 -- 100 percent of it -- to pay your tax bill for the year.
The Minnesota State Department of Finance shows that the biennial General Fund budget has increased over 50 percent since 1998. If it were $50, that wouldn't be a big deal, but it's gone from $21 billion to $32.5 billion in just eight years with only one of those cycles at less than double digit percentage increases.
CareerInfonet shows the three largest employers in Minnesota are the federal government, state of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota. The smallest of them is the University at 25,000 employees. Thank goodness for 3M, the largest non-government employer in Minnesota with less than half of the third place winner at 12,200 employees. No wonder it takes until May 3 to pay that bill!
Of the top 25 largest employers in Minnesota, 14 are hospitals, clinics, or other healthcare related businesses. Gotta love those state and federal health care mandates. Just in case you were wondering, the total tax bill doesn't include health care premiums and related expenses -- those are extra.
Those statistics and a good bit of research in my profession lead me to propose that Minnesota is an expensive state to live, work, and play in. Don't get me wrong -- I love it here and chose to move back in 2000 after seven years away. That said, everything has its limits and we often don't see them until it's too late.
So my question to my fellow residents and honorable legislators is why aren't we giving the surplus back to the taxpayers? When Exxon Mobile reports record earnings, people get up in arms and want to throw a "windfall profits tax" on them. Ladies and gentlemen, your state government has taken $2 billion dollars more of your money in the form of income taxes than it needs to operate and instead of giving it back they are lining up to spend it and nonchalantly authoring bills to extract more of your income. A 50 percent increase in eight years and the fifth highest burden in the country at 33.6 percent isn't enough?
What would happen to a business if they announced that they had overcharged their customers by $2 billion over a two-year period, they knew it was coming, and then proceeded to take more?
Instead, the topics that dominate the media are smoking bans on private property and the strictest renewable energy in the country -- things that government should not be involved in to begin with.
There are a few legislators willing to fight for the taxpayers but they are seriously outnumbered -- they need some help. Let your legislators and the governor know you want them to talk about the right stuff -- your money. Give back the surplus in the form of income tax relief. Don't let them mask it in some form of property tax "relief". That's not where the money came from. Those are your income tax dollars -- ask them to give it back, in income tax relief. It's your money and your choice.
------------------------------------
Lundquist is a Chanhassen resident and former member of the Chanhassen City Council |
 MN HOUSE: HOW THEY VOTED
House votes to hike per diem pay and housing allowance
February 26, 2007
VOTE 1 -- PUBLIC ACCESS TO PER DIEM DATA ON INTERNET -- Rep. Paul Kohls (R-Victoria) asked the House to provide on-line information on how many dollars in "per diem payments are claimed by each Representative. The DFL killed the amendment with a procedural motion by a 70-62 vote.
VOTE 2 -- YEAR-ROUND HOUSING FOR A THREE-MONTH JOB -- Rep. Joyce Peppin (R-Rogers) asked the House to scrap a proposal that Representatives who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol be paid $1,200 each month (or $14,400 per year) for a housing allowance. Noting that the House met for less than three months in 2006, Rep. Peppin questioned the need for a year-round housing allowance that would add almost 50% to a legislator’s annual pay. The DFL killed the amendment with a procedural motion by an 80-51 vote.
VOTES 3 & 4 -- SHOW RECEIPTS FOR EXPENSES -- Rep. Bob Dettmer (R-Forest Lake) asked the House to require Representatives to submit receipts for their daily $77 per diem payments. "That is a lot of money for meals every day," he said. The DFL killed the amendment with two procedural motions by margins of 81-50 and 77-54.
VOTE 5 -- EVERY MEMBER SHOULD VOTE FOR THE "PER DIEM" HIKE -- Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) asked the House for a direct vote for the increase in per diem payments to $77 per day. Under the DFL’s rules, the decision was made by only 22 members of the House Ways & Means Committee on January 10. The DFL killed the amendment with a procedural motion by a 69-60 vote.
VOTES 6 & 7 -- EVERY MEMBER SHOULD VOTE FOR FUTURE HIKES -- Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) asked the House to adopt a rule that would require all 134 Representatives to vote for future "per diem" increases, while allowing an election to intervene after that vote before the higher payments could take effect. The DFL killed the amendment with a procedural motion by a 74-59 vote. By a 90-43 margin, the DFL also killed a request by Rep. Laura Brod (R-New Prague) to instruct the House Rules Committee to at least consider the Buesgens proposal.
VOTE 8 -- PER DIEM PAYMENTS -- Mark Olson (R-Ham Lake) proposed an amendment to require a direct vote by all 134 Representatives to vote on the increased per diem payments. By a 76-57 margin, the DFL majority rejected the amendment.
How greedy is your legislator?
| Legislator |
Party |
District |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
PCT GREED |
| Jim Abeler |
Republican |
48B |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
13 |
| Bruce Anderson |
Republican |
19A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Sarah Anderson |
Republican |
43A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Tom Anzelk |
Democrat |
03A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Joe Atkins |
Democrat |
39B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Michel Beard |
Republican |
35A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| John Benson |
Democrat |
43B |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
88 |
| John Berns |
Republican |
33B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Karla Bigham |
Democrat |
57A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| David Bly |
Democrat |
25B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Laura Brod |
Repulican |
25A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Robin Brown |
Democrat |
27A |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
13 |
| Kathy Brynaert |
Democrat |
23B |
Y |
Y |
|
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Mark Buesgens |
Republican |
35B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Julie Bunn |
Democrat |
56A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
13 |
| Lyndon Carlson |
Democrat |
45B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Karen Clark |
Democrat |
61A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Tony Cornish |
Republican |
24B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Jim Davnie |
Democrat |
62A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Matt Dean |
Republican |
52B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Chris DeLaForest |
Republican |
49A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Randy Demmer |
Republican |
29A |
N |
|
|
|
|
N |
N |
N |
50 |
| Bob Dettmer |
Republican |
52A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| David Dill |
Democrat |
06A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
|
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Denise Dittrich |
Democrat |
47A |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
13 |
| Willie Dominguez |
Democrat |
58B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Al Doty |
Democrat |
12B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
25 |
| Rob Eastlund |
Republican |
17A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Kent Eken |
Democrat |
02A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Tom Emmer |
Republican |
19B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Ron Erhardt |
Republican |
41A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
13 |
| Sondra Erickson |
Republican |
16A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Tim Faust |
Democrat |
08B |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
63 |
| Brad Finstad |
Republican |
21B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Patti Fritz |
Democrat |
26B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Paul Gardner |
Democrat |
53A |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
25 |
| Pat Garofalo |
Republican |
36B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Steve Gottwalt |
Republican |
15A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Mindy Greiling |
Democrat |
54A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
88 |
| Bob Gunther |
Republican |
24A |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
|
N |
Y |
N |
38 |
| Tom Hackbarth |
Republican |
48A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Rod Hamilton |
Republican |
22B |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
25 |
| Rick Hansen |
Democrat |
39A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Alice Hausman |
Democrat |
66B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Larry Haws |
Democrat |
15B |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
50 |
| Bud Heidgerken |
Republican |
13A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
63 |
| Debra Hilstrom |
Democrat |
46B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Bill Hilty |
Democrat |
08A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Mary Liz Holberg |
Republican |
36A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Joe Hoppe |
Republican |
34B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
12 |
| Frank Hornstein |
Democrat |
60B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Melissa Hortman |
Democrat |
47B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Larry Hosch |
Democrat |
14B |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
25 |
| Larry Howes |
Republican |
04B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Thomas Huntley |
Democrat |
07A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Mike Jaros |
Democrat |
07B |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
88 |
| Sheldon Johnson |
Democrat |
67B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Al Juhnke |
Democrat |
13B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Phyllis Kahn |
Democrat |
59B |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
100 |
| Jeremy Kalin |
Democrat |
17B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
50 |
| Margaret A. Kelliher |
Democrat |
60A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Kate Knuth |
Democrat |
50B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Lyle Koenen |
Democrat |
20B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Paul Kohls |
Republican |
34A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Scott Kranz |
Democrat |
51A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
13 |
| Carolyn Laine |
Democrat |
50A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Morrie Lanning |
Republican |
09A |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
63 |
| Ann Lenczewski |
Democrat |
30B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| John Lesch |
Democrat |
66A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Tina Liebling |
Democrat |
30A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Bernard Lieder |
Democrat |
01B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Leon Lillie |
Democrat |
55A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Diane Loeffler |
Democrat |
59A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Shelley Madore |
Democrat |
37A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Doug Magnus |
Republican |
22A |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
13 |
| Tim Mahoney |
Democrat |
67A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Carlos Mariani |
Democrat |
65B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Paul Marquart |
Democrat |
09B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Sandra Masin |
Democrat |
38A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Carol McFarlane |
Republican |
53B |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
38 |
| Denny McNamara |
Republican |
57B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Frank Moe |
Democrat |
04A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Will Morgan |
Democrat |
40A |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
88 |
| Terry Morrow |
Democrat |
23A |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
88 |
| Joe Mullery |
Democrat |
58A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Erin Murphy |
Democrat |
64A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Mary Murphy |
Democrat |
06B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Michael V. Nelson |
Democrat |
46A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Bud Nornes |
Republican |
10A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Kim Norton |
Democrat |
29B |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
75 |
| Dave Olin |
Democrat |
01A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Mark Olson |
Republican |
16B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Mary Ellen Otremba |
Democrat |
11B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Dennis Ozment |
Republican |
37B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
88 |
| Erik Paulsen |
Republican |
42B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Michael Paymar |
Democrat |
64B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Gene Pelowski Jr. |
Democrat |
31A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Joyce Peppin |
Republican |
32B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Aaron Peterson |
Democrat |
20A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Neil W. Peterson |
Republican |
41B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
13 |
| Sandra Peterson |
Democrat |
45A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Jeanne Poppe |
Democrat |
27B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Tom Rukavina |
Democrat |
05A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Connie Ruth |
Republican |
26A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
 Maria Ruud |
Democrat |
42A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Brita Sailer |
Democrat |
02B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Bev Scalze |
Democrat |
54B |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
25 |
| Marty Seifert |
Republican |
21A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Tony Sertich |
Democrat |
05B |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Dan Severson |
Republican |
14A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Ron Shimanski |
Republican |
18A |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
0 |
| Steve Simon |
Democrat |
44A |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
100 |
| Dean Simpson |
Republican |
10B |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
13 |
|
