Members Hit the Hill 3-13-13

Governor Mark Dayton addresses over 700 concerned business leaders from
around the state during MN Business Day at the Capitol.

Owatonna Chamber members joined a group of more than 700 businesses for Business Day at the Capitol on March 13th, which was organized by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Governor Mark Dayton spoke to the packed room of business representatives about his soon-to-be released revised budget that is still expected to  include a 4th tier income tax.  The new tier is only supposed to affect about 6% of filers, but equates to affecting about 20,000 job-creating businesses. The additional cost on these employers gives them less ability to compete nationally and internationally, less money to invest in their business and employees and increases costs to their customers.

It's the business community's perspective that the Governor's budget is within 2% of balancing and it should be able to find cuts to balance instead of raising taxes to cover the deficit. The overall message business wanted to share with the Governor is that spending should not outpace revenues.

Representative Petersburg visits w/ OACCT members
at his office during MN Business Day at the Capitol.

(R-L) Jim Gunderson, Jen Menzner and Rhonda Guthier visit
with Senator Jensen outside of a conference committee room about
her stance on raising minimum wage and the health insurance exchange. 

OACCT members also heard updates from the MN Chamber on issues like the health insurance exchange (that currently isn't allowing business to serve on the exchange board or grant the board "active purchasing" power), nurse staffing ratios (that strips providers of making business decisions and managing their operations), and a minimum wage bill (that exceeds the federal rate).