politics

With the Legislature convening on Thursday, one of Minnesota's most influential labor unions said Monday that it would push for an ambitious job-creation package that features a state bonding bill of at least $1 billion and a $12-an-hour state wage subsidy program.

In outlining its proposal, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, which represents 300,000 workers in the state, acknowledged that it did not know how much the wage subsidy program would cost but said that raising taxes, particularly on higher income Minnesotans, would be one way to help pay for it. The proposal not only would be at odds with initiatives by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and many other Republicans, but also probably goes further than some DFLers would like.

But Shar Knutson, the president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, said the nation's lingering unemployment crisis requires bold action, and more revenue from taxpayers. "We are done with ... shifts and unallotments," said Knutson, criticizing the budget approach of Pawlenty and the Republicans.

While not specifically calling for higher taxes on the affluent, Knutson and other AFL-CIO leaders on several occasions Monday said that the state's middle-class families, earning between $35,000 and $97,000 annually, paid 12.4 percent of their income in state and local taxes. Those earning $194,000 and more, they said, pay only 9 percent.

Knutson and others were vague on how the proposal was being greeted by the DFL's top leaders, including House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller.

"We'll see," Knutson replied, when asked whether Kelliher, Pogemiller and other top DFLers were going to support it.

The most distinctive feature of the AFL-CIO plan would be the wage subsidy program, though union leaders said they were unsure of its cost.

Under the proposal, as an example, a Minnesota company with 50 employees being paid $12 an hour could hire 10 additional employees and pay them $6 an hour and have the state temporarily subsidize the other $6 of their hourly wage. Companies paying workers less than $10 an hour would not be eligible for the program.

State AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Steve Hunter said that though there might be reluctance at the Legislature for such a proposal, the union was prepared to remind legislators that it is an election year. "Every district has problems with unemployment," he said.

Mike Kaszuba • 651-222-1673