From the Capitol
Senate DFL proposes budget
Posted: 4/6/04
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Senate DFLers proposed to cut some 38 state deputy commissioners ó Republican political appointees ó as part of their budget balancing solution.
ěDo I think the administration will be supportive of this? Not necessarily,î opined Sen. Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, Senate finance committee chair.
The proposal comes at the end of a week that saw a DFL Senate committee reject the confirmation of Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau as transportation commissioner and a lengthy confirmation hearing for Gov. Pawlentyís embattled education commissioner.
ěWe suggest the governor, the bureaucracy, the state agencies must share the pain,î said Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar.
Johnson spoke of a ěSlim Fastî diet for state government.
Senate DFLers want to target upper management positions in their proposed five percent, $30 million cut to state agencies ó Pawlenty and House Republicans have proposed three percent cuts.
Other elements of the Senate DFL budget proposal include the upfront collection of the sales tax on leased cars ó same as the administration ó cigarette sales tax shift to wholesalers and closing corporate loopholes.
ěThe fact of it is, itís a tax increase, itís not a loophole,î said House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, of the latter proposal.
Itís an additional burden on business, job creators, he said.
But Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, Senate tax committee chair, explained the proposed loophole closures as pertaining to a recent court ruling dealing with foreign operating companies and ěpaper shelters,î or tax shelters.
Senate DFLers bet some $58 million can be gleaned by doing this.
Another revenue-raiser is a $39 million short-term ěloanî from the health care access fund.
Senate DFLers say their budget proposal, which does not touch the stateís budget reserve, will provide about $31 million for additional spending.
Local government aid will not be the recipient of this revenue, but rather the Senateís crime initiative and other proposals.
Unlike House Republicans budget plan, which incorporates $100 million in racino or gaming revenue, the Senate DFL budget avoids gambling.
Johnson called gaming an unstable source of revenue.
Senate DFLers propose to role all their committee omnibus bills into a megabill and have it on the Senate floor on Wednesday (April 7) for a vote.
House Republicans expressed shock over the Senate DFL approach, saying they have little inkling whatís in the Senate bills.
ěTalk about operating in the dark of night,î said Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, House ways and means committee chair.
One aspect of the power struggle at the Capitol both Senate and House leaders insist will never become bargaining chips are the Senate confirmation of Pawlenty commissioners.
Johnson said the confirmation process should never be linked to the budget ó a sentiment expressed by Sviggum.
ěI wouldnít provide a penny for it,î said Sviggum of striking a deal for a commissioner.
Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, chastised Senate DFLers for being unable to resist raising taxes.
Thatís what theyíre doing on business, he said.
ěMinnesotans have a clear choice: stifle job growth with new taxes as Democrats propose or support the Republican plan to create jobs and millions of dollars for the state with a racino at Canterbury Park,î he said.
Pawlenty characterized the Senate DFL budget plan as based on tax increases and bad public policy.
ěThe Senate plan also includes a proposal to turn the management of state government over to career government workers who are unaccountable to elected officials,î said Pawlenty.
He also faulted Senate DFLers for proposing more cuts on state government while leaving their own Senate legislative budget untouched.
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