Speaker and Minneapolis Resident Margaret Anderson Kelleher Goes for Mall Boondoggle at the Expense of Her Home Town
From:
Eva Young
Date:
Apr 30 00:10 UTC
Short link
From the Strib
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/18371794.html
Both House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, and
House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, were greeted with
applause as they spoke in a State Capitol rotunda crowded with
sign-waving construction workers wearing hard hats. Kelliher said
afterward that she expects the mall's $2.1 billion proposal -- which
includes public subsidies -- to be part of a conference committee tax
bill that will be presented to Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Today's events made it likely that the House Taxes Committee -- whose
chairwoman, Rep., Ann Lenczewski, opposes the public subsidy component
-- would be bypassed as the mall's supporters seek to move the
proposal through the Legislature.
Rep. Michael Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, House author of the public
financing piece of the mall proposal, said it was unlikely the plan
would be introduced in Lenczewski's committee in order to avoid a
defeat that would slow its momentum. "I'm not sure there are enough
votes there," Nelson said.
EY: Both deserve derision. It appears that there isn't a tax subsidy
at the expense of Minneapolis, Margaret Anderson Kelliher doesn't
like, and Marty Seifert claims to oppose tax increases. This moves
the tax burden from the Mall to everyone else in the tax district -
including property tax payers.
Call your legislators to tell them to vote NO on this bill.
Government should NOT be in the business of picking winners and
losers. In this case, Margaret Anderson Kelliher decided to sell the
Minneapolis Taxpayer over the river, while the Mall Owners and
Developers are laughing all the way to the bank.
And Minneapolis Taxpayer's are holding the bag.
Eva Young
Lloydletta's Nooz
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
.