by Charley Shaw
Published: March 18, 2010
Tags: 2010 legislative session, County program aid, Keith Carlson, Local Government Aid, Paul Marquart, Tom Bakk
House and Senate DFLers have agreed to cut $105 million in aids and credits to local governments. But the two chambers are split on how to make the cuts.
by Charley Shaw
Published: March 17, 2010
Tags: Ann Lenczewski, Richard Cohen, Tim Pawlenty, Tom Bakk, Tom Rukavina
DFL legislators are nearly ready with the first portion of their planned “three-tier” solution to Minnesota’s current $1 billion budget deficit.
by Betsy Sundquist
Published: March 16, 2010
Tags: Ann Lenczewski, Budget cuts, Governor's 2010 supplemental budget, Tom Bakk
The chairs of the Minnesota House and Senate tax committees are working on legislation that cuts aid to local governments by approximately $105 million -- far less than the $250 million proposed last month by GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
by Peter Bartz-Gallagher
Published: March 16, 2010
Tags: Ann Lenczewski, photo of the day, Tom Bakk
The Chairs of the Senate and House tax committees, Sen. Tom Bakk and Rep. Ann Lenczewski, took questions from the press about their upcoming plans.
by Sarah Janecek
Published: March 12, 2010
Tags: Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Tom Bakk
Today marks the first policy committee deadline, which is always a good place from which to view the legislative session's big picture. Today's big picture is an historic one, but it can be viewed with clarity only by Capitol veterans.
by Phil Krinkie
Published: March 12, 2010
Tags: Phil Krinkie, Tim Pawlenty, Tom Bakk
It didn’t take long. Just one month after the start of the 2010 legislative session, Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, chair of the Senate Tax Committee, proposed a whopping new tax increase—a sales tax on all clothing.
by Paul Demko
Published: March 10, 2010
Tags: 2010 Governor's Race, Dave Griggs, DFL Party, endorsement, Jaime Tincher, John Marty, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Mark Dayton, Matt Entenza, Paul Thissen, R.T. Rybak, Susan Gaertner, Tina Smith, Tom Bakk, Tom Rukavina
There are two clear front-runners in the battle for the DFL gubernatorial endorsement: House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. By the only measures currently available – caucus straw poll, pledged delegates – they’re well ahead of the rest of pack of contenders. That will almost certainly remain the case when delegates assemble for the statewide party convention in Duluth at the end of April.
by Paul Demko
Published: March 8, 2010
Tags: 2010 Governor's Race, John Marty, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Marty Seifert, Matt Entenza, Paul Thissen, R.T. Rybak, Tom Bakk, Tom Emmer, Tom Rukavina
The vast majority of delegates have now been chosen for April's state political conventions. While there's no public master list of where their allegiances lie, a couple of web sites have been keeping close tabs on the gubernatorial delegate hunt.
by Charley Shaw
Published: March 5, 2010
Tags: Tim Pawlenty, Tom Bakk
Senate Taxes Committee Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, announced last week that he’s introducing a bill to add clothing to the state’s sales tax in order to pay back last year’s K-12 school aid shift and reduce the current budget deficit.
by Charley Shaw
Published: March 4, 2010
Tags: 2010 legislative session, Governor\'s 21st Century Tax Reform Commission, Sales tax, Tim Pawlenty, Tom Bakk
Senate Taxes Committee Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, this morning proposed to add clothing to the state's sales tax in order to payback last year's K-12 school aid shift and reduce the current budget deficit. While expanding the sales tax base, Bakk also wants to lower the sales tax rate from 6.5 percent to 6.25 percent. Minnesota is one of five states that don't tax clothing sales.
