Gov. Tim Pawlenty and four other governors have joined the ranks of politicians opposing a proposed $4 billion tax on medical device makers, part of a Senate plan to pay for health care reform.
Pawlenty joined Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert in a letter sent Tuesday to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the Senate Finance Committee chairman, who has written legislation calling for an $856 billion overhaul of the nation's health care system.
The two-page letter said the annual tax, which would span 10 years and raise $40 billion, would "dramatically increase the overall effective tax rate on manufacturers, making the United States the highest tax jurisdiction in the world in which to produce medical technology."
The tax would constrain research and development, cut investment in manufacturing facilities, curb training for doctors and result in a loss of jobs, the governors wrote.
A strong med-tech center
Other Minnesota lawmakers who have opposed the tax include Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken; Reps. Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann, both Republicans, and Betty McCollum, a Democrat.
Minnesota is home to the largest world's largest med-tech company, Fridley-based Medtronic Inc., and about 300 other firms; total med-tech employment is about 50,000.
JANET MOORE
