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EdMN, SEIU, ISAIAH LEADERS: RICHEST HOUSEHOLDS, WEALTHY CORPORATIONS MUST PAY WHAT THEY OWE IN TAXES

Leaders were joined by subject matter expert from We Make MN ahead of Monday's budget forecast

St Paul, Minnesota — Today, labor and faith leaders set the stage for the upcoming budget and economic forecast and issued a reminder on exactly what Minnesotans sent their leaders to the Capitol to accomplish — to ensure wealthy corporations and the rich pay what they owe our communities, so our shared resources can provide the infrastructure and programs we need to support ourselves and our families.

“Instead of focusing on where we should ‘cut', we should be asking wealthy corporations and wealthy people to start paying what they owe. Just like the rest of us do. It means saying ‘no’ to new tax breaks for those already doing well; those tax breaks will structurally diminish our ability to meet the needs of the majority of Minnesotans. Including saying ‘no’ to the full Social Security tax exemption, which would amount to a 1.2 billion structural hole in the budget,” said Doran Schrantz, Executive Director at ISAIAH

Many others have cast doubt on the wisdom of a full exemption for Social Security income tax, including Star Tribune commentary editor and columnist D.J. Tice, who called it a “misguided policy idea.” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Liz Olson, who published a piece entitled “Eliminating Minnesota state tax on Social Security 'would come at an enormous cost',” is among many lawmakers who oppose full exemption for Social security income tax.

“Educators need the state to step up and fully fund public education this year. It’s going to take billions of dollars of ongoing funding to fix 20 years of underinvestment. This is the year to fix the shortages, expand the policies that work, and provide every Minnesota student a world-class education in a school that’s safe, welcoming, and effective for everyone – no matter what they look like, where they live, their special needs, or where they’re from,” said Denise Specht, President at Education Minnesota

The event followed the release earlier in the week of a North Star Policy Action report showing Minnesota's state and local funding has declined over time, and that under-investment is leading to higher costs and lower quality of life for all Minnesotans.

“The DFL trifecta has a chance to not just put a band-aid on this issue, but to actually set the groundwork so we can make sure this generation and the next generation and the generation after that have the best healthcare in the country, the best schools in the country, the safest communities in the country. We can make sure we address climate change. We can work to put an end to the huge racial disparities in the state. We can lift up working families. But the current surplus will only go so far, and we won't be able to do what we need to do if we don't demand that wealthy corporations pay what they owe,” said Jigme Ugen, Executive Vice President at SEIU Healthcare Minnesota

Eric Harris Bernstein, Director at We Make MN, put the forecast in context and offered some substantial caveats. “Although much has been said of the historic surplus, about two-thirds is accrued savings or one-time money, which has resulted in part from increased federal support. … These impacts will not continue into the future. We shouldn’t assume that this excess revenue will continue. … and we know the costs of public programs will rise.”

“We do expect that some baseline inflation accounting will be included in Monday’s forecast, but want to caution that this is only a narrow adjustment. It does not reflect the need for long-deferred wage and staffing increases across the public sector and in many public sector adjacent workforces, such as health care and elder care, which are funded in whole or in part out of the state budget.”

 

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