The Legislature's Republicans say they are particularly keen to enact "permanent" business property tax relief -- "providing certainty for job creators," the House GOP briefing for Capitol reporters said in explanation of the tax bill the House approved Tuesday afternoon.

The claim brought to mind something that old Capitol basement hands used to teach young reporters: "No Legislature can bind a future Legislature."

What that maxim means in this situation is that this year's legislators can put into statute (provided Gov. Mark Dayton goes along) an indefinite freeze of the statewide business property tax. They can say all they want that they've made a lasting change. But that freeze will be fully subject to changes by the Legislature in 2013 and beyond. It's only as "permanent" as any given year's elected lawmakers want it to be.

Next year could be a big change year for tax policy. The tax reform tub-thumping that Dayton's Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans has been doing around the state all this year signals that the Dayton administration wants major tax revisions on the 2013 Legislature's agenda. That means that the tax statutes not only of 2012, but also of the last 40 or 50 years, could be up for review. (I propose that they review the 1967 decision to exempt clothing from the state sales tax.)

My advice to businesses: If your statewide business property tax gets frozen this year, enjoy it while it lasts, and remember that in Minnesota, freezes are followed by thaws, regardless of what the statutes say. My advice to voters: Be skepical when politicians boast about the "permanent" changes they enacted. The future could surprise us all.

The wording of the poll's question about the stadium bill's features has been faulted as misleading by critics, including the blog, The Deets.