Last week, Minnesota State Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, wrote an e-mail newsletter about bills that "our tax-and-spend legislators" are proposing this legislative session.

"Hold on to your hats! (Or should I say wallets?)," he added.

All of the following bills, each of which was pointed out by Buesgens (the newspaper added the links to the bill text as each was introduced), would increase taxes:

INCOME TAXES ON WORKING MINNESOTANS

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, wants to raise income taxes by $252 million. Read House File 1738 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1738.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, wants to raise income taxes on 170,000 taxpayers. She added this tax increase with an amendment to House File 1258. It would collect millions more in income taxes. Read the bill at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1258.0.html&session=ls85.

SALES TAXES ON CONSUMERS

Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, wants to impose an extra sales tax to pay for transit and other purposes. In the metro area, there would be one tax increase. In the rest of the state, the new tax could be proposed by any two or more county boards. Read House File 1463 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1463.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, would impose an extra sales tax to raise at least $500 million a year to pay for new parks, trails, and habitat projects. Read House File 1449 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1449.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Shelley Madore, DFL-Apple Valley, wants to impose an extra sales tax on the three million people in the metro area to pay for more buses and trolleys. Read House File 1112 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1112.0.html&session=ls85.

TAX THE DEAD, THE DRIVERS, THE HOMEOWNERS, AND THE PAINT ON THEIR HOMES

Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-International Falls, wants to authorize a new tax on dead people in his area to pay for the Lakeview Cemetery Association. Read House File 213 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0213.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Bernie Lieder, DFL-Crookston, wants to triple a tax on hearses. Lieder also wants to raise your gas taxes by 50 percent, and allow counties to charge you a wheelage tax, and triple the tax on cars and hearses, and allow counties to raise the sales tax, and put a transportation-impact tax on every building permit, and raise the cost to register vehicles. Read House File 946 as it was introduced at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0946.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-La Crescent, wants to raise fuel taxes by 50 percent on gasoline, E85, M85, liquefied petroleum gas, propane, liquefied natural gas, and compressed natural gas. Read House File 1469 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1469.0.html&session=ls85.

Homeowners would face a 50 percent increase when filing any papers related to the purchase, transfer, mortgaging, sale, or other transfer of property. Money from those taxes on homeowners would be given to non-homeowners seeking to rent property or buy their own homes. Rep. Scott Kranz, DFL-Blaine, wrote House File 939, which you can read at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0939.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Anoka County. Read House File 362 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0362.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. Read House File 1042 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1042.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, wants to collect more taxes on local deeds and mortgage documents in Dakota County. Read House File 1466 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1466.0.html&session=ls85.

TAXING ALCOHOL AND COSMETIC SURGERY

The Democrats are trying to raise taxes on alcohol and cosmetic surgery.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, wants to tax cosmetic surgery. This would be a bad precedent the sales tax, which generally has applied only to goods, except for food, clothing, and a few other exceptions. Read House File 1027 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1027.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, wants to pile enormous tax increases on beverages containing alcohol. He would raise taxes on metric sales beverages by the following percentages: distilled spirits (up 228 percent); wine (up 450 percent); hard cider (up 800 percent); regular beer (up 790 percent); and 3.2 percent beer (up 457 percent). House File 1050, which you can read at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1050.0.html&session=ls85, would collect over $110 million in new taxes.

Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, is seeking similar increases in taxes on alcohol, but for other purposes. Read House File 1446 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1446.0.html&session=ls85.

TAXES ON DOTING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis, wants to put a 10 percent tax on people who give gifts. If the donor does not pay the tax, then the tax liability shifts to the person who received the gift. In such cases, the donor would still be liable for a $100 penalty for not paying the gift tax. Under the bill, you could be required to show the gift to the commissioner of revenue to determine its true worth. Read House File 1212 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1212.0.html&session=ls85.

TAXES THAT WILL DESTROY JOBS AND CHASE AWAY EMPLOYERS

You have seen the television ads for Pacific Mutual Insurance, with whales swimming through the air, and splashing their tails in the rolling waves.

California decided to cut back on deductions that local companies took for business expenses they incurred in other states. So the whales moved to the cornfields when Pacific Mutual decided to move its headquarters to Nebraska.

A similar fate could await major Minnesota employers if the same types of tax burdens are piled on them by Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis. He wants to punish foreign operating corporations, which are major local employers whose success has allowed them to do business in other states and countries. Read House File 943 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0943.0.html&session=ls85.

'REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE' WITH TAXES

Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, wants to raise a tax on cell phones, land-line phones, and other telecommunications devices by 46 percent. Read House File 1464 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1464.0.html&session=ls85.

'GIVING' BEGINS AT HOME

Rep. Frank Moe, DFL-Bemidji, wants to raise local sales and use taxes in Bemidji. Read House File 1103 at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billnum.asp?Billnumber=hf1103&ls_year=85&session_number=0&session_year=2007.

Lieder also wants to raise local sales and use taxes in Crookston. Read House File 1820 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1820.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Will Morgan, DFL-Burnsville, wants to create special tax increment financing districts in Burnsville. These districts often shift property tax burdens onto current landowners for years. Read House File 1054 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1054.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Carolyn Laine, DFL-Columbia Heights, wants to create a special tax increment financing district in Columbia Heights. Read House File 1879 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1879.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, wants a new local sales tax authorized for North Mankato. Read House File 108 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0108.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson, wants a new local sales tax authorized for Cloquet. Read House File 885 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0885.0.html&session=ls85. 

Rep. Mike Jaros, DFL-Duluth, to raise taxes on food and beverages in Duluth to help to pay for a new hockey arena in that city. Read House File 134 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0134.0.html&session=ls85.

FEE INCREASES AHEAD

Democrats campaigned against fee increases last fall. But now, they are introducing bills with lots of fees. Some of the tax increases described above are called "fee increases" in part or in whole (phone fees, alcohol fees, health impact fees). Then there are these bills:

Rep. Larry Haws, DFL-St. Cloud, wants to raise fees for county and regional jails. Read House File 161 as it was introduced at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0161.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, wants to raise fees on video and electronic equipment sales. Read House File 854 as it was introduced at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0854.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, wants to impose an extra $250 fee on cigarette manufacturers. Read House File 1737 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1737.0.html&session=ls85.

Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, wants to raise pharmacy fees automatically on an annual basis. Read House File 1722 at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H1722.0.html&session=ls85.

Buesgens ended his newsletter with this: "Whew! Hope I didn't just ruin your week!"

What do you think about these proposals?