St. Paul (April 21, 2014) – The state’s major small business group today warned
lawmakers that Minnesota’s near-bottom ranking in a national economic index
could still get worse because of their recent deal to increase the minimum
wage.
“Minnesota ranks in the
bottom half of all states in 10 of the 15 categories and we’re in the bottom
five for most of our state taxes,” said Mike Hickey, State Director for the
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “The only
category for which we received any credit for was the minimum wage but now that
is gone due to the dramatic increase that just passed and was signed into law.”
The American Legislative
Exchange Council last week released its annual Rich States-Poor States Economic
Outlook Index, which ranks the states based on taxes, regulations, labor laws
and other factors. Minnesota this year remained at 46, just ahead of New
York, Vermont, California and Illinois. But the 2014 ranking doesn’t
reflect a recent deal in St. Paul to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour
to $9.50, a 31 percent increase and another blow to Minnesota small businesses.
“We’re competing for the
wrong prize and next year we may win,” said Hickey. “We shouldn’t be
competing with the most anti-business states in America to see who can create
the most difficult environment. We should be competing with states in our
region like Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio that are trying to attract
new business investors and grow jobs.”
“Last year the majority party
and Governor Dayton pushed through a massive tax increase that was very
unpopular and then quickly had misgivings about it and rushed a bill through
the legislature this year that repealed key parts of it which we applauded”
said Hickey. However, they just took another step backward by passing a
dramatic increase in the minimum wage.
“We won’t be competitive as
long as we have the highest taxes and the highest minimum wage in the region,”
said Hickey. “If we want employers to stay here and locate here then we
have to give them a reason. So far we’ve been giving them more reasons to
avoid Minnesota.”
View the 2014 Rich States-Poor States report here. For more information about NFIB, please
visit www.nfib.com.
####
