Since the announcement last June by Governor Tim Pawlenty that he would not seek a third term as Minnesota’s chief executive, there has been a stampede of gubernatorial hopefuls parading around the State.

The number of candidates for the state’s highest elected office has swelled to more than 20. Several other potential candidates are still sizing-up the race from the side lines, like former GOP U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, who has said he won’t announce his campaign intentions until next spring, and former GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad.

But one thing is already certain about next year’s contest for governor … the liberals hate the term “no new taxes.” Ever since Gov. Pawlenty took office in January 2003, the “we never have enough money crowd” has been going wild.

From former DFL minority leader Matt Entenza’s “It’s a sad day in Minnesota,” to the recent doom-and-gloom “Leadership Summit,” there has been a constant refrain of “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” due to a lack of state revenue.

The explanation for why Minnesota has such dire budget problems is always, “It’s Gov. Pawlenty’s steadfast commitment not to raise taxes.” This is what the tax-and-spenders point to as the underlying cause of Minnesota’s budget problems.

So, as the left starts to crank up their propaganda against the term “no new taxes,” let’s set the record straight.

First, tax increases are a way of life in Minnesota. From Gov. Al Quie’s income tax surcharge in the 1980’s, to Gov. Arne Carlson’s sales tax increase in the 1990s – both Republicans – the progressive state of Minnesota has been a bastion of tax-and-spenders for decades. Recently, Dane Smith, president of Growth & Justice, a liberal advocacy group, opined that Minnesota was “standing almost alone in failing to raise taxes during these times of historic budget shortfalls.” (Many of us would hardly call that a measure of failure.)

Not to be left behind, Star Tribune editorial writer Lori Sturdevant weighed in last week with a shot against “no new taxes,” stating that, “In a post- Pawlenty Minnesota, state lawmakers will need to be open to bigger changes on both sides of the budget ledger.” This is certainly the most indirect way Sturdevant has phrased her passion for higher state tax revenues in the last seven years.

As another budget shortfall looms, let’s set the record straight on the issue of tax increases during the past four years. In 2005, with the state House and Senate deadlocked in an end of session budget battle, Gov. Pawlenty proposed his now infamous “Health Impact Fee,” more commonly known to smokers as the 75 cents-a-pack cigarette tax. This tax increase didn’t avert a partial government shutdown, but it did increase revenue to the State of Minnesota by more than $200 million per year.

Next in 2006, came the finale to the 10-year Twins stadium debate. This time it was a sales tax increase to fund the new Twins ballpark. Just a “small” sales tax increase imposed in Hennepin County without voter approval that will raise over a half a billion dollars to pay off the stadium bonds. With one-third of the state’s total sales tax collections coming from Hennepin County, this certainly counts as a tax increase.

Fast-forward to 2008 and the new tax burden got much larger as the Legislature pushed through a transportation funding bill that increased the gas tax, the metropolitan sales tax, auto license taxes and excise taxes to the tune of $6 billion over 10 years. While Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the bill, the Legislature jumped at the opportunity to override his veto and billions of dollars in new taxes were imposed.

Not resting on their earlier tax increase victory, the 2008 Legislature also placed a Constitutional tax increase on the November 2008 general election ballot. The 3/8 percent sales tax increase to fund the arts and outdoor entertainment won favor with Minnesota voters and now another $11 billion in new taxes were levied on Minnesotans.

So, with annual tax increases that amount to more than a billion dollars a year, how can anyone purport that there have been “no new taxes?”

Adding injury to insult, there have also been double-digit increases in property taxes over the past four years, as well as billions of dollars of increased fees charged by state and local governments. And all of this goes toward fueling double-digit spending growth at the state and local levels.

“No new taxes” – to some it’s a commitment to live within our means; to others, it’s a way to vilify and guilt lawmakers into voting for yet another new tax increase.

This column originally appeared in the St. Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report.

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