Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

GOP auditor candidate Pat Anderson will say anything to get elected - especially when it comes to LGA

St. Paul (July 1, 2010) - GOP State Auditor candidate Pat Awada Anderson has been trying to play both sides of the field while talking about Local Government Aid (LGA) cuts on her statewide media tour.

In greater Minnesota, Anderson bemoans the LGA cuts, saying the state is shirking its responsibility and promising to mend the strained relationship between the state and local governments that she created. In the Twin Cities, Anderson argues just the opposite, reverting to her original stance of using LGA cuts to balance the state budget, and saying in a Star Tribune editorial that the result of LGA cuts is "efficiency."

"It's hard to know where exactly Pat Anderson stands on any given issue since she will apparently say anything to promote herself, regardless of facts," said DFL spokesperson Kristin Sosanie. "But it's clear that Pat Anderson does not stand on principle."

Anderson first pushed for balancing the state budget through a 43% cut to LGA just one month after taking office in 2003. She labeled things like libraries, parks, and community health services as "non-essential services" that could be cut. And the LGA cuts Anderson first proposed have driven city property taxes up by 102% and may be contributing to home foreclosures and a delayed economic recovery.

"Pat Anderson's actions decimated communities in greater Minnesota, and Minnesotans haven't forgotten the reasons they voted her out of office four years ago," Sosanie said. "It would be one thing if Pat Anderson had seen the light and changed her position, but she hasn't. She's simply saying one thing in greater Minnesota while she argues the opposite in the Twin Cities - that's unprincipled, and it's hypocrisy at its worst."

Background

Pat Anderson will say anything in her effort to get elected.

• Anderson is for LGA cuts while in the Twin Cities. "The takeaway lesson of the Pawlenty era is that when local government must set priorities, it acts more responsibly." [Star Tribune, 3/4/10]
• Anderson opposes LGA cuts outside the Twin Cities. Anderson has been telling press in greater Minnesota that the state is shirking its responsibility by cutting aid to local governments. "The state shouldn't use LGA to balance its budget." [Litchfield Independent, 6/29/10]

Pat Anderson originally proposed and widely promoted cuts to Local Government Aid.

• Anderson first proposed cutting LGA. "Minnesota Auditor Pat Awada said on Monday that the state could erase nearly 12 percent of its $4.2 billion deficit in fiscal years 2004-05 with a targeted cut of 43 percent in state aid to cities." [Pioneer Press, 2/11/03]
• Anderson labeled things like libraries, parks, and community health services as "non-essential services" so that they could be cut. "In her prior term, her advice on "essential services" eligible for LGA didn't sit well with rural communities. She declared libraries a ‘non-essential' local government service." [Bemidji Pioneer, 5/30/10]
• Cuts to LGA have driven up property taxes by 102%. "As federal and state governments have reduced the amount of aid to cities, the result has been a greater reliance on revenues derived from property taxes...Between 1999 and 2008, actual revenues derived from property taxes grew 102 percent, compared to 10 percent for revenues derived from intergovernmental sources." [Minnesota City Report, 2008 Revenues, Expenditures and Debt, accessed 6/29/10]