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Issues

  • Dropping Minnesota’s high rate of business taxation.

     According to the Washington D.C. based Tax Foundation, if Minnesota were a country it would have the third highest business taxes in the world. Most small business owners pay their taxes on the individual income tax. For joint filers making more than $250,000 and single filers making more than $141,000, a new 9 percent tax rate was proposed that would give Minnesota the third-highest individual income tax rate in the nation. This measure that was strongly opposed by NFIB passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Pawlenty and will likely be considered again. NFIB has also opposed several efforts to raise the statewide portion of the commercial property tax and this proposal will likely be reintroduced again.

  • Stopping new health insurance mandates in Minnesota

    New health insurance mandates drive up premium costs which fall only on small businesses and individuals who make up just 27 percent of the insured population in Minnesota.
    Minnesota has approximately 64 mandated health insurance coverages, the highest in the nation. NFIB will continue to oppose new mandates that only apply to a minority of the insurance market that is made up of small businesses and individuals.

  • Aligning Minnesota’s death tax exemptions with the federal government’s

    Currently, the federal death tax exemption is $3.5 million per person, and in 2010, no federal death taxes will be assessed for one year. Minnesota’s exemption is $1 million per person. Unless Minnesota conforms to the federal exemption, Minnesotans will be forced to pay the state death tax when they do not have to pay the federal tax. NFIB is leading a coalition that is pushing to conform to the federal exemption.

  • Limiting attorneys’ fees in Minnesota that businesses must pay to prevailing plaintiffs

    Under an idea promoted by NFIB and others, if a small business defendant makes a settlement offer and the plaintiff rejects it and receives less in the final verdict, the small business defendant would only have to pay fees up to the point of the settlement offer.  If the settlement offer was made early in the case, they could save a significant amount of money.  The most common cases that would affect small business are suits brought by current or former employees or applicants. Many areas of law state the prevailing party shall receive fees, but due to controlling U.S. and Minnesota Supreme Court decisions, it is almost impossible for victorious defendants to receive fees.