Hope that people in Duluth will protest in front of Reps convention

Duluth left out in the cold by Minnesota Legislature strib editorial

As Duluthians know, it’s often “colder by the lake.” But the chill that Republican State Convention delegates experience in the city this weekend may have an origin other than Lake Superior. The Republican-controlled Legislature this year spurned both of Duluth’s top requests, leaving that city’s leaders feeling justifiably ill-served.

Atop the Zenith City’s legislative list was a request that ought to have been easy to accommodate. Last November, Duluth voters overwhelmingly said yes to a 0.5-percentage-point increase in the sales tax rate within the city, hoping to raise $7 million per year to be used for street improvements.

All that was needed to impose that tax was a green light from the Legislature. No state money was required. “We are willing to solve our own problem here,” Mayor Emily Larson told an editorial writer. More than 20 public meetings ensured that the tax proposal was well understood by voters, she said. The referendum was approved with 76.5 percent of the vote.

(snip)

The Legislature’s response was no response. Neither the House nor the Senate version of the eventually vetoed tax bill gave Duluth permission to raise its sales tax. Other cities seeking permission for local sales tax increases were also turned down, Duluth DFL Sen. Erik Simonson noted, but among them only Duluth had already obtained the consent of local voters.

More..

http://www.startribune.com/duluth-left-out-in-the-cold-by-minnesota-legislature/484225551/

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Another proof that Republicans are mean just for the sake of being mean. I just hope that this will stop any purple move in the region come November.