Editorial writers from across the state are weighing in on the need to protect LGA during the governor’s unallotment. Here’s what they’re saying:
Our fair governor has national ambitions. By using his powers of unallotment and line-item veto, he is sidestepping a state budget formed in a populist and more democratic manner and going it alone.
These days, the thought of Gov. Tim Pawlenty clutching his “unallotment” knife is enough to make local government officials wake up screaming. Everybody else should be screaming too, and they may well start once they see how losing LGA hurts their quality of life.
We are in great need to answer the central question before us and in the years ahead. The real question the governor should be asking Minnesotans is: What kind of state do we want and how much are we willing to pay as individual citizens to achieve it?
To erase a deficit that massive without leaving local governments and school districts high and dry and cutting programs that help people who need the help most, you need some additional revenue, and that should come through taxes, not borrowing. And tax opponents, just you wait, your property taxes will go up next year as a result of this year’s insanity in St. Paul, as local governments realize that they need more revenue to offer the services that people need and want.