The Freeborn County Republicans recently held an event for Young Republicans. The event drew about 40 people. Needless to say, we were disappointed because our speaker, Bob Guenther, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives., gave a report on the past session and specifically the tax bill that was passed in the House. It was interesting because it gave us insight about how our own representative voted. The bill raised taxes significantly and especially for people in rural southern Minnesota. Looking at some of its provisions, you will see how it affects you.

The bill would eliminate the deductibility of interest on the mortgage of your home. In a time when we have a housing crisis, is this the time to raise the cost of owning a home? Did our local representative vote for this provision? Yes. This bill would also eliminate JOBZ, which has been so beneficial to Albert Lea. There are more than 600 new jobs in our county due to this section of the Minnesota tax code. Did our state representative vote to eliminate this job creation section of the tax code? Yes.

The bill passed by the House lowered the amount you could deduct for charitable causes such as your church, the YMCA/YWCA, the Salvation Army, United Way and many youth programs. It would affect any 501(c)3 organization that you contribute to, and they already have a very difficult time meeting expenses. Yes, our state representative voted for this bill. There are people who have donated organs such as kidneys to others who cannot live without this procedure. This bill even eliminated the deduction and tax credit for those donors and, yes, our state legislator voted for it.

The provision that would have affected a lot of farmers was taxing home heating oil. When you’re in a recession and it’s hard to make ends meet, is this the time to place a tax on something so necessary as the heat in your home?

Yes, they did want to raise taxes on those couples making over $300,000. This sounds reasonable because they can afford to pay more. However, 62 percent of those in that tax bracket are small business owners, and they use that profit to grow their businesses, to add more employees, and to buy more inventory. It just doesn’t make sense to pass a tax that would make it more difficult to do business in Minnesota. The state of Maryland tried this and 3,000 taxpayers moved to other states where there was a friendlier tax climate and there was a net loss of state revenue. Yes, our state legislator voted for this.

We can be thankful that not all Democrats voted the way our legislator, Robin Brown, voted. The House is controlled by the metropolitan area, and Robin voted along with her party, which had very little regard for our state of Minnesota. They do not realize that our county lies next to Iowa, and that is who we compete against for businesses and jobs. The Senate, because there is equal representation from each county, will consider how the border counties are affected when they pass legislation.

Our state legislator said in the Albert Lea Tribune that there were many tough choices. It appears that her choices were made for her by the Twin Cities politicians. Do you believe that increasing taxes, when Minnesota is already one of the highest taxed states in the U.S.? Is it the right thing to do when we are in the midst of a deep recession? Do you believe she made the best decisions for Albert Lea and rural Minnesota?

Al Arends is the chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party.