Big Tech comes to St. Paul

It’s not every day that a major company comes out of the corporate suite to attack a tax bill at the Minnesota Capitol. And it’s a rare occasionwhen a Washington, D.C., law firm dispatches one of its partners to tell lawmakers in the Gopher State to tone it down.

But a bill introduced by Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, that taxes digital downloads in Minnesota has clearly drawn the ire of Big Tech. The bill would impose Minnesota’s sales tax on movies, music, books and art that are downloaded on the Internet.

The members of the House Taxes Committee, which heard Davnie’s bill today, were greeted with a letter emblazoned with Apple Inc.’s iconic mackintosh symbol in the top, right-hand corner.

The letter, written by Nick Ammann, state and local government affairs representative for the Cupertino, Calif.,-based technology concern, was addressed to Davnie and Bakk.

Ammann wrote that his company