Issue Position: Taxes and The Economy

Issue Position

According to the Tax Foundation, Minnesota's state and local tax burden is 8th highest in the U.S. The Foundation also ranks our state as one of the 10 worst for business taxes. With rankings like these, I opposed Governor Dayton and the DFL's $2.1 billion tax increase in 2013 because I believed it would weaken our state's economic competitiveness and impede productivity and wage increases. I remain opposed to raising taxes on our businesses and citizens. The goal of the legislature should be to strengthen our state's economic competitiveness and ensure that our tax and regulatory climate is conducive to attracting entrepreneurs and growing jobs.

People with higher incomes are voting with their feet and moving to friendlier tax climates, according to a recent study by the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota. Their taxes as well as their civic contributions are lost not just for one year, but for all future years as well. The estimated state and local taxes lost due to out-migration between 1995 and 2009 was $2.5 billion.

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