Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities: LGA and gubernatorial candidates

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities is now conducting a press conference at the state Capitol. The group is continuing to press a campaign asking gubernatorial candidates to state their positions on Local Government Aid  (LGA).

A telling new issue ad is being released at the news conference--I hope that it get wide play. The stories of the impact of the devastating cuts spell out how communities across the state have been harmed.

The group also unearthed a clip of then-candidate Tim Pawlenty in a 2002 gubernatorial debate prising LGA while condemning cuts. If Americans want to know about the gap between the Pawlenty they'll be sold as a candidate--and the uncertainty they'll get if this man becomes President and the political winds shift, look no further:

Sadly, it's the ordinary people in the video who are paying the price of Tim Pawlenty's political ambitions. Here's hoping news of his opportunistic nature catches up with him before he can do damage on a national scale.

Update: The Minnesota Progressive Project posted a more blunt assessment. At MnPublius, Jeff Rosenberg agrees with Pawlenty.

Comments

[Kristin]

Pawlenty has been a poor governor. I never thought I'd say I wish our governor would follow Sarah Palin's lead but I wish he would - and quit!

From environment to caring for the vulnerable in our society he's not been someone we could trust, believe in or follow.

[Govtmule]

Pawlenty certainly has performed poorly on his promise but LGA has a devastating effect on government accountability. It masks the true costs of local government. Since funding of LGA is based on a standard formula there are communities that pay a higher tax rate (income and property combined) than they actually use - subsidising other communities. Likewise the subsidised communities are unaware that their local government is not working efficiently.

Because the true costs/effectiveness of government are masked voters cannot make an informed decision on election day for local or state officials. The proper method of combining a property and income tax to local government support would be dedicating a portion of the income tax to taxpayers local government unit and a portion to the location where the income was earned.