Business leaders applaud Minnesota budget stalemate - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL legislativre leaders failed to reach abudgetf deal, leaving Pawlenty to erase the remaininhg $2.7 billion budget gap using unallotments. There will be spendingv cuts, the governor says, but no tax increases. “Give the economy, I think comingg out of the session without additionakl burdens being placed on job providers is anenormousw victory,” said Charlie Weaver, executive directo r of the Minnesota Business Partnership.
Late Mondagy night, the DFL-controlled House and Senate passed a bill that would balance the budgetwith $1 billion in tax increasesz and a one-time accounting The bill included tax hikes for the liquor and credit card Pawlenty, however, said he’ll veto the bill. “On the certainly we fared pretty well,” said Tom vice president of government affairx for the Minnesota Chamberof Commerce. “The varietu of tax increases that were proposed by the Legislaturd didnot happen, thanks in largde part to the governor, and we’re pleasec with that outcome.
” The governor's stanc drew criticism from the International Uniojn of Operating Engineers, which represents 13,000 members in Minnesota and the Dakotas. "Minnesota’s workin g men and women will soon feel the pain of these massivdbudget cuts," said Local 49 business manager Glen Johnson in a predicting that big employment cuts from schools and the like woulds follow the veto.
Officials from the National Associatiob of Industrial and Officeproperties (NAIOP), a commercial and real estatre development association, were pleased the sessiohn ended without increasing statewide genera l property taxes, something that had been discussed earlier in the But since state aid to Minnesotza cities could be among the items that gets cut by NAIOP members are still worried that local propertg taxes might rise as cities try to balancee their own books.
NAIOP leaders also were pleased that a proposelaw didn’t pass that would have given citiex the authority to establish transportation or street-improvemenr districts to raise revenue for a variety of things ranginf from transit stations to street lights, said Kaye Rakow, directoe of public policy for the Minnesota Chapter of The proposed law woulds have allowed cities to create districts without havingy to demonstrate specific benefits for the landowneres (as they must for special assessments). The legislative session was a one forsmall businesses, said Mike Hickey, executivd director of the National Federation of Independent Minnesota chapter.
“We’re real happy we didn’t have a massivde tax increase during aterrible recession. I thinki that would only make things worse, and it was a sourced of a lotof battling.” But businesses groupss didn't record any major proactive victorieas either, said Blois Olson, an executive vice presidentg at Tuneim Partners in Bloomingtoj and former co-publisher of Politics in Minnesota . "Th e real question is: Did we do anything that is goiny togrow jobs? I think the jury's still he said. The Chamber had supported proposalzs calling for business tax cuts or other incentives that woulde have helped spureconomic development.
"jI think most of those ideaws got left on the Hesse said.