During his first four years in office, Gov. Dayton raised the state income tax
from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on
couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly – a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He’s also agreed to raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2018, and passed a state law guaranteeing equal pay for women. Republicans like state representative Mark Uglem warned against Gov. Dayton’s tax increases,
saying, “The job creators, the big corporations, the small
corporations, they will leave. It's all dollars and sense to them.” The
conservative friend or family member you shared this article with would
probably say the same if their governor tried something like this. But
like Uglem, they would be proven wrong.
Between 2011 and 2015, Gov. Dayton added 172,000 new jobs
to Minnesota’s economy – that’s 165,800 more jobs in Dayton’s first
term than Pawlenty added in both of his terms combined. Even though
Minnesota’s top income tax rate is the 4th-highest in the country, it has the 5th-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 3.6 percent. According to 2012-2013 U.S. census figures, Minnesotans had a median income that was $10,000 larger than the U.S. average, and their median income is still $8,000 more than the U.S. average today.
By late 2013, Minnesota’s private sector job growth exceeded pre-recession levels, and the state’s economy was the 5th fastest-growing in the United States. Forbes even ranked Minnesota the 9th-best state for business (Scott Walker’s “Open For Business” Wisconsin came in at a distant #32 on the same list).
1 comment:
seems like a plan to follow nationally.
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