Lake Minnetonka State Representative Reacts to Minnesota Budget Forecast

State Representative Jerry Hertaus (33A), whose district includes many of Lake Minnetonka's northern communities, reacted to Thursday's state budget forecast with guarded optimism, saying the report showed evidence that the "policies put into place during the past two years are now yielding increases in the revenue stream and tax collections."

"Today's budget forecast statement issued by the Minnesota Office of Budget & Management shows yet again the blueprint Governor Dayton should follow if he desires to achieve economic growth and promote market based job creation," Hertaus said. "Fiscal restraint over the past two years has lead to a dramatic improvement for Minnesota's economy. Minnesota has created over 50,000 new jobs in the past year alone, and has generated billions of dollars in additional tax revenue, all without raising taxes. 

Hertaus went on to say that having a healthy and vibrant market based private sector is necessary to produce the revenue to support the necessary functions of government.

"Private sector employers require economic certainty regarding tax policy in order to make investment decisions and grow their businesses," Hertaus said. "Changing that economic certainty will discourage investment and expansion of jobs and disrupt the recovery of our state economy."

Hertaus added that in the coming weeks, state legislators and the governor should "continue to discuss and explore policies that will help build on the good news from the budget forecast and continue to improve Minnesota's economy."

"We need pro-growth policies that will help grow the economy and jobs rather than job-killing tax increases on small businesses and the middle class, as the Governor and the majority have proposed," Hertaus said.