Governor’s Courageous Commitment to Structural Tax Reform, New Revenue Will Result in Broad, Sustainable Prosperity for Minnesotans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 2013
Contact: Greta Bergstrom, 651.336.6722, greta@takeactionminnesota.org

“GOVERNOR’S COURAGEOUS COMMITMENT TO STRUCTURAL TAX REFORM, NEW REVENUE WILL RESULT IN BROAD, SUSTAINABLE PROSPERITY FOR MINNESOTANS”

St. Paul, MN – TakeAction Minnesota lauded the Governor Dayton’s budget proposal and his courage to restructure the tax system to make it fair for Minnesotans. The statewide organization released the following statement from Executive Director Dan McGrath:

“Minnesotans understand that we’re all a part of the same team and new investments won’t happen without new revenue. Minnesotans expect individual and corporate taxpayers to work together to build our state, and that means making sure our contributions and prosperity are much better shared. The Governor’s budget does that.

“Governor Dayton is right to push for long-term structural tax reform that makes tax rates fair and asks the richest 2% and corporate tax avoiders to pay their share and get our economy moving again. The Governor’s plan will create a more robust economy by ending some of the worst abuses of our current tax system.

“The Governor’s commitment to strengthening Minnesota’s health care programs by working to lower costs and increase access and developing a nation-leading health care exchange reflects his understanding that our current health care system remains one of the top economic threats to workers and employers alike and must be overhauled. His insistence on tougher contracting with HMOs is critical to achieve health care equity.

“We believe the Governor’s courageous commitment to structural tax reform and insistence on new revenue will result in broad and sustainable prosperity for Minnesotans. The imbalance present over the past decade, including budget gimmicks benefitting the richest two percent, has taken an enormous toll on the other ninety-eight percent of Minnesotans. This budget can help rebalance their lives.

“We thank Governor Dayton for his tenaciousness and vision in doing what is right for our state, not what is necessarily easy.”

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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide people’s network of more than 14,000 individuals and 28 organizational members. We work collaboratively to raise the voices of Minnesotans in their own communities to advance social, racial and economic justice. The organization has offices in St. Paul and Duluth.