City Councilmember Sherry Butcher and I attended a meeting today of the
Minnesota State Senate Tax Committee. The committee was giving a hearing to two amendments being proposed by
Sen. Bill Belanger of Bloomington to the Governor’s tax bill proposal, Senate File 748. Sen. Belanger is the author of the Governor’s proposed tax bill.
The first amendment was full of technical correction and definition changes and had been blessed by the Governor’s office. The second amendment, however, was a bit more daring and has not yet been endorsed by the Governor’s office.
The second amendment proposed to SF 748 today by Sen. Belanger strikes into new territory for state-local relations in Minnesota. In very clear terms, this amendment would free cities from many state-imposed fiscal policy controls (levy limits, salaray freezes, debt service restrictions, etc.) if the City or county would agree to give up its state financial assistance (i.e. – Local Government Aid, LGA).
I think it is a brilliant bill. Trade your money for your freedom. The state can grant more fiscal freedom to cities without costing it a dime. Under Sen. Belanger’s amendment, the state makes money by granting its cities fiscal freedom. Cities might lose state financial assistance, but they win the ability to raise funds at the local level in a manner and at a level that they need to fund local services. Citizens win too. They will see greater accountability under this concept. If a city has to generate all its revenue locally, citizens who will know exactly who is accountable for local fiscal conditions. Cities won’t be able to blame their financial constraints on the state anymore, if they accept this challenge.
The hearing was interesting, uncomfortable, and entertaining – all at the same time. Sen. Larry Pogemiller is chair of the Tax Committee. He challenged the credibility of State Revenue Commissioner Dan Salamone a number of times. He does not beleive that Mr. Salamone, or the Governor who appointed him, are being straight with the committee concerning the impact of the proposed tax bill being advanced by the Governor’s office. As a staff person, that was uncomfortable watching that.
Sen. Pogemiller also related his “research” on the tax bill, which amounted to discussing graphical representations of it with people he met in a bar while watching the Timberwolves game last night. He added later that the reference to the people in the bar was meant to be a metaphorical reference for the “common man”. He is pretty sure that the common man is going to buy the Governor’s assertion that the LGA cuts in his budget are distributed fairly around the state. That was, sort of, the enteratining part. The entire committee was not present. Some were busy with other bills, but the whole thing was very interesting.
If I had to make the call for Eden Prairie (and I don’t. This is a Council policy decision), I would trade our state financial assistance for fiscal autonomy any day. It would be good for us in the long run, both fiscally and socially. In a year or two, we’d be a stronger community for taking this challenge.
