With long-term shortages in state tax revenue looming, DFL candidates for governor Monday advocated government support of programs to boost employment and income and described the approach as their best strategy to win.
"I think the message is 'jobs, jobs, jobs,'" said Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook.
"It's also got to be 'education, education, education,'" said Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia.
Borrowing money to build public projects, retraining workers and providing government support for business loans were some of the ideas for creating and salvaging jobs advanced by the candidates at a debate at Macalester College.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner pressed for retraining unemployed or underemployed workers. Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis suggested diverting existing tax breaks for businesses to support business loans.
Former Sen. Steve Kelley of Hopkins promised that he wouldn't lay off public employees to close a $1.2 billion state budget deficit.
Former Rep. Matt Entenza of St. Paul said Minnesota should strive to become "the Silicon Valley of clean energy" by supporting alternative sources of power that would foster job growth.
While not always specific, the candidates generally agreed that some type of tax increase should be considered to bridge budget gaps. "We're going to have to raise taxes," said Sen. John Marty of Roseville. "We cannot cut our way out."
