(Alexandria, VA)-- Today, the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the nation's largest and oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, applauded Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature for providing badly needed tax relief to Minnesotans to spur job creation and economic growth. NTU has over 7,000 members in Minnesota.
The law Governor Pawlenty signed yesterday provides almost $31 million in tax relief, including a Small Business Investment Tax Credit and an improved research and development credit. The law passed with strong bipartisan support in the Minnesota House by a vote of 112-20 and in the Senate on a vote of 58-3.
John Stephenson, NTU's State Government Affairs Manager, notes, "Minnesota desperately needs tax relief. It has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation, which is especially painful to working families in this recession. This vote shows that Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature understand prosperity does not come from higher taxes and more government spending, but through lower taxes and less government spending."
NTU's Stephenson also says that leaders should now act on the Governor's proposal to put on the ballot a Spending Limitation Amendment, which would restrict expenditures in a given budget cycle to what the state received in revenue in the previous two years. "The next step for Minnesota is to reform its budget policies," observes Stephenson. "The fact of the matter is that Minnesota is spending money far beyond what its taxpayers can afford. Minnesota cannot continue on this destructive path."
Stephenson concludes, "NTU's Minnesota members hope that Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature work in the same bipartisan fashion as they just did for tax relief, and allow voters to decide on the Spending Limitation Amendment in the next election. Working families and small businesses across Minnesota determine their budgets by how much they've brought in and have on hand; there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't expect the government to behave the same way."
NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: For more information on NTU, visit www.ntu.org or text the word "FIGHT" to 67292.
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