What is good for business is good for the state.

Gary Gross points us to the newly released Business Barometer from the Minnesota Chambers of Commerce that should serve as a wake up call for the Minnesota Legislature. Some key insights from the Minnesota Business Community....

ECONOMY: Mixed views
• Profitability is improving, but it may not result in greater employment yet
• Businesses are more confident that Minnesota has a better business climate than other states

I found the second point to be interesting. It shows that there appears to have been some progress made in the Minnesota business climate.

BARRIERS TO JOB CREATION: Taxes remain No. 1
• Tax burden continues as No. 1 barrier, cited by 33 percent
• Taxes biggest concern among small and medium businesses, those with declining revenues
• Growing global competition biggest threat to companies with 50-plus employees
• Other major barriers: worker shortages; government regulation

Emphasis mine. Taxes are still the number 1 concern and government regulation is up there as well. We may be making progress, but it has been slow.

These numbers do not bode well for the DFL led Legislature.

AT THE CAPITOL: Improved confidence in Legislature
• Nearly half – 46 percent – of respondents rate legislative performance as good or excellent
• Still, almost 70 percent say lawmakers failed to address most important problems
• Nearly 60 percent rate governor’s performance as good or excellent

Sixty percent of the members of the Minnesota Chambers of Commerce approve of the Governor's performance. Think about that....46% of the members approve of the legislative performance.....just 6% higher than the Governors disapproval ranking. And 70% say that the legislature failed to address the problems that are most critical in this state....LIKE ROAD AND BRIDGE REPAIR??????

Then there is this:

BUDGET: State must live within its means
• Two-thirds say the projected $2.2 billion surplus was adequate to meet state’s needs
• Three-fourths say inflation increases should not be automatic in budget forecasts

Now there is a radical thought....government living within its means? What a concept!

It would be nice if our legislature would listen to the advise of the Chambers of Commerce. These folks are probably more plugged in to all aspects of their respective communities than the legislators are. Healthy businesses mean a healthy community.

To the legislatures defense, the legislators do have other more important things to do which is why they should (and to their credit some do) pay attention to the Chambers recommendations. However, I hold no false hope that the DFL leadership will heed the call. They have already indicated that they are going to (again) push for more taxes and more intrusive government interference into the lives of each and every citizen in this state...something that will need to be remembered next November.