Few in St. Paul understand tax policy and the state's tax structure as well as Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook. The way tax collection is structured and the policies that dictate taxation determine economic growth. Or the lack thereof. The tax system encourages business activity. Or discourages it.
With the state of Minnesota facing massive budget woes, voters can improve the chances of a desperately needed economic recovery by re-electing Bakk, a lawmaker who knows how to make it happen.
He may be large, loud and intimidating, but Bakk also is a legislative financial expert, consistently on the correct side of finding long-term solutions to difficult problems. And with his run for governor now in the rearview mirror, Bakk is ready to concentrate on what he's done so effectively for 16 years: serving residents, including in the 6th state Senate District, which covers most of Minnesota's Arrowhead region.
"Tax policy matters. Experience matters," Bakk said in an interview with members of the News Tribune editorial board. "Real reform can't come from the Legislature. It has to come from the governor's office. ... No matter who our next governor is he'll have to reach out to people with experience, especially in taxes."
One of those people would be -- has to be -- Bakk, chairman of the Senate Tax Committee since 2006.
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"That's the committee that matters," Bakk said. "Anything that's going on has to come through the tax committee."
Bakk has learned over the years that there just aren't enough wealthy people in Minnesota to tax to solve the state's financial troubles. Only 50,000 of 4.2 million Minnesotans earn more than $250,000 a year, he said. He's come to realize, too, that economic growth won't bail us out. Not this time, with baby boomers aging and not spending like they did in the past when they singlehandedly drove economic recovery.
"We're going to fix it. Constitutionally we have to fix it," Bakk said of the budget deficit. "Everyone is going to have to participate in the solution. It's probably too big for everyone not to participate. That means nothing is off the table."
That also means many politicians are reluctant to 'fess up about what might need to happen. That includes Bakk, who would say, for the record, only that there'll be a "new normal." We took that to mean that if it was cut from the budget in the past with a promise of being restored, don't count on restoration; count on more cuts. Painful cuts. Necessary cuts. The sorts of cuts a large, loud and intimidating veteran lawmaker can make.
On other issues, Bakk supports tort reform because, as a society, we're paying too much for lawsuits. He also supports a single health plan for all public employees, a guaranteed money-saver.
"I'm part of the solutions," Bakk said. "I like challenges. And the state and rural Minnesota are facing severe challenges."
Bakk's Republican challenger is Jennifer Havlick, the public access and cable television coordinator for the city of Two Harbors and a coordinator for His Glory Search, a volunteer, nonprofit rescue and aid team. She ran unsuccessfully against Bakk in 2006.
"I tell the truth, sometimes at my own peril," Havlick said. "People need to be told the truth, not just what they want to hear. And the truth is there needs to be a change. We're heading, screaming in the wrong direction."
