Fiscal Responsibility – My Values
For the past eight years, our state has been in a constant state of financial chaos. Budget deficits have become the rule rather than the exception. The instability and unpredictability that results prevents our businesses, families, schools, and cities from thriving. Next year, we will face a budget deficit in the $5-8 Billion range. We have a responsibility to close that deficit in a way that does not dismantle the things that have made Minnesota a success. My votes on budget and tax issues will be guided by the following values:
1. Honesty and Transparency. Tell Minnesotans the truth about the cost of things we value and how we’ll pay for them.
a. No More Gimmicks. Put an end to using gimmicks like timing shifts and borrowing from schools.
b. No More Shell Games. Stop telling Minnesotans we’re holding the line on tax increases while we’re really forcing property taxes to increase.
c. No More Deceptive Accounting. Eliminate the deceptive practice of including inflation in revenue forecasts while excluding it from spending projections.
2. Value. Minnesotans are willing to invest in the things we value. In the past two general elections, we voted for tax increases to support our environment, the arts, and our transportation infrastructure. But Minnesotans want to know our money is being spent on what we value and that – when we do spend – we’re getting a good bang for our buck.
a. Focus on the investments that will have the biggest impact.
b. Emphasize capacity enhancement (teaching a person to fish instead of giving him a fish.)
c. Identify and measure desired outcomes.
d. Engage in cost-benefit analysis that recognizes both long and short term cost savings and value increases.
e. Insist on competent administration.
3. Stability. Our businesses, families, schools, and cities need predictability so that they can plan ahead. In recent years, we’ve had a perpetual state of financial crisis in St. Paul. Let’s return Minnesota to its tradition of stable government finance by:
a. Broadening our tax base to make it less vulnerable to fluctuations in our economy; and
b. Rebuilding a prudent reserve that insulates us from the inevitable volatility of the economy.
4. Fairness. We have a long and admirable tradition in Minnesota of fairly sharing the costs of governing ourselves. As we face the challenge of our current fiscal crisis, we need to follow that tradition by ensuring the burdens of digging out of this crisis are shared by all of us. Going forward, each of us should be paying our proportionate share.