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Thursday, February 7, 2013
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Minnesota State University, Mankato
New sales taxes target luxury items, cigarettes Dayton’s plan would tax clothing that costs over $100, and increase the cigarette tax.
ELISE KONERZA
staff writer
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recently introduced a new tax proposal weighing on Minnesota’s top 2 percent to bring Minnesotan’s out of a daunting $1.1 billion deficit. The new tax plan would ultimately generate $2.1 billion in state taxes, dropping Minnesota from the seventh highest sales-taxed state to the twenty-seventh highest. Many Republicans are hesitant of Gov. Dayton’s plan saying his new plan is an election move as Dayton will be up for reelection this year. A twitter feed generated typically by Republicans as #DaytonTax reads “A Day under Dayton’s Sales Tax.” “Planning on taking a cab home from the bar this weekend? #DaytonTax would make you pay more for your safe ride home. #mnleg,” College Republicans tweeted. The issue of taxes has caused a sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats, Dayton’s plan reverses time tables to late 90s tax reform to balance our current heavy dependency on revenue generated by property taxes. “Those who say spending is too high, I challenge you to say exactly where more cuts should be made,” Dayton said. “And to those who say we need to spend more, I challenge you to say exactly
where the money should come from,” he said. A part of his new plan requires adding a 5.5 percent sales tax on clothing items over $100. This proposition also extends an added state sales tax to digital goods and items purchased online. Currently Minnesota employs no sales tax on clothing, a large draw for outof-towners visiting the Mall of America, who fly in from around the world specifically to shop here without the sales tax. This may cause college students to budget and rethink buying a $150 pair of premium jeans, however buying a necessity such as a winter coat, which can cost upwards of $100, could become even more difficult. Dayton said food, medicine and clothing items costing less than $100 would be exempt from the sales tax, as would burial services. The idea being promoted is that no clothing item over $100 is essential or cannot at least be substituted with a less expensive alternative. It is a “luxury tax” that ultimatley will cause Minnesotan’s to rethink their spendy purchases in order to create a better education system, transportation system and more devised through Dayton’s plan. “I’ve never purchased
Taxes / page 2
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SATURDAY
Post-college job prospects in Mankato MEGAN KADLEC
editor in chief
At Minnesota State University, Mankato, many students are afraid of being able to find a job upon graduation. Some of these students know they are going into fields where job growth has not been increasing while others have been told, often by professors, that local businesses won’t hire MSU graduates because the school has a reputation. This is absolutely not true, according to Vice President of Greater Mankato Growth Barb Embacher. Embacher said that there are numerous businesses throughout Mankato and North Mankato who specifically seek to hire current college students for part-time work or internships, as well as recent college graduates for full-time work. Abdo Eick and Meyers, an accounting firm based in Mankato, works with the MSU College of Business to hire interns and graduates. Embacher also said that they sponsor one of the accounting clubs on
campus. The firm has also just donated $25,000 for an Advisory Council Executive Suite in the future College of Business Global Solutions Center. This is only one example of a business that values their relationship with MSU and its students. “There are so many good collaborations going on between our businesses and the colleges here,” Embacher said. “We consider the college students in our community to be such an asset. We brag about that all the time.” Additionally, the workforce in Mankato and North Mankato has seen an increase of 2,096 jobs, an increase of 4 percent, from February 2011 to February 2012. Employment opportunities in the Mankato area have been increasing for the past 28 months. These current employment statistics were gathered and released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Mankato was ranked as having the highest percentage increase in jobs out of all five
Job Increases Across the State Area: Job Increase % Increase Mankato-‐North Mankato 2,100 4% St. Cloud 1,300 1.40% Minneapolis-‐St.Paul 15,000 0.90% Rochester -‐500 -‐0.50% Duluth -‐2,200 -‐1.70%
MSU WOMEN’S PLAYERADVERTISERS SETS RECORD SEE PAGE WINTER CARHOCKEY CARE ISSUE ON PAGES 5-713
metro areas in Minnesota, including St. Cloud, MinneapolisSt. Paul, Rochester and Duluth. “We want you guys to stay here. We want you to find good work and make this your permanent home if you like it here,” Embacher said. “We want to make sure our community is putting its best foot forward and is reaching out to our talented graduates and making sure they know there are good jobs here for them.” Greater Mankato Growth, formerly known as the Mankato Chamber of Commerce, has expanded to encompass ideals of economic development corporations rather than simply being a business network. Greater Mankato Growth is comprised of 800 local businesses ranging in size from start-up companies with one or two employees to large companies like the Taylor Corporation, Mayo Heath Systems and Minnesota State University, Mankato. Employment in firms with less than 20 employees accounts for 26 percent of all jobs, while employment for firms with more than 250 employees accounts for 20 percent of all jobs. “We work with restaurant owners to manufactures to engineering firms to health care providers,” Embacher. The services provided by Greater Mankato Growth include eight strategic areas,
Job Prospects / page 5 A&E
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INDEX: SPORTS
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CLASSIFIEDS
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