Close the deficit without crippling future job creation

Employers appreciate the difficult position state lawmakers are in. The global recession has forced many employers to make tough choices in the face of falling revenues and tight credit markets and gloomy forecasts. But as legislators look for ways to close the budget deficit, the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses urges them to oppose the kinds of tax increases that would hurt business investment and job creation in Minnesota.

In the depths of the deepest global recession in decades, raising taxes on Minnesotans who are working hard to grow businesses, provide jobs and create opportunities would damage our state’s long-term prosperity in a competitive global economy.

• Minnesota lost 98,000 jobs between March 2009 and March 2008, the largest number of job losses in post WWII history. (Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development)
• The market values of Minnesota’s 100 largest companies plunged 38.7 percent, losing $190 billion in market value. (“State's biggest companies down but not out,” Minneapolis StarTribune, April 19, 2009)
• Forbes rates Minnesota the 4th most heavily taxed state

April 23 Action Alert: House & Senate Tax Bills (PDF)

Don’t Raise Minnesota’s Personal Income Tax (PDF)