Minnesota House Democrats propose a bigger increase for public schools than Governor Tim Walz put in his budget, plus a 300-million-dollar bump for higher education with a tuition freeze. They’d pay for it in part with business tax increases — something Republican Senator Julie Rosen from Vernon Center doesn’t like. “Businesses are trying to hang on and I think it’s unfair to keep piling on top of them,” Rosen says.
But Democratic Representative Paul Marquart from Dilworth points to corporate tax loopholes saying, “I don’t think it’s fair that a senior citizen or a working family should pay more in taxes because we’re letting some company get by with using… gimmicks to shelter their profits in Bermuda.”
House Democratic leaders are also backing Governor Tim Walz’s proposal for a gas tax increase, which Republicans say the Senate will reject. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says later in the week Senate Republicans will unveil a budget that addresses the state’s priorities without increasing taxes.