The tax cut policies of the Republican challengers in Senate District 49A (Stacy Bettison) and 49B (Wendi Russo) promise a return to the multi-billion dollar budget deficits of the Republican Tim Pawlenty administration, which hurt public education and left many Minnesotans without health insurance.
They offer tax cuts but no plan for how to pay for it. It is a time warp back to the Republican Tim Pawlenty years, where taxes were cut and budget deficits ballooned, including a $4.5 billion budget deficit in 2003-2004 and another $6.5 billion deficit that was left to incoming DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, according to an MPR article from Dec. 22, 2010, summarizing Pawlenty’s term. Republican budget deficits impacted public education as the Republicans balanced the budget at the expense of our public schools with an accounting shift and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost reductions. Back then, Minnesota could not afford all-day kindergarten. I remember paying so my child could attend all-day kindergarten. In addition, MPR noted that during the Republican Pawlenty deficit years, the number of Minnesotans without health insurance grew from 6% to over 9%.
Instead of telling us what they would cut, the Republicans claim that they can cut taxes and pay for it by eliminating “mandates” to schools, and fiscal discipline. It is a tale as old as time. While fiscal discipline should always be used, it yields less than most think. As for the mandates, they do not specify which ones. For example, Minnesota requires public schools to teach a certain number of instructional hours – are they planning a reduction to pay for their tax cut? Without clarity, one wonders.
One thing is certain: the Republicans’ math does not add up. Their tax reductions have the prospect of a return of budget deficits balanced at the expense of our children’s education and the most vulnerable. Let us decline to return to those days and instead forge ahead into the bright new future with our DFL candidates for House Alex Falconer in 49A and Carli Kotyza-Witthuhn in 49B.
George Maxwell, Eden Prairie
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