“My name is Brad Nelson, I’m a member of the Rochester area chamber of commerce. I work in town and some years ago my wife and I started a small business.
“About five years ago we invested another, close to three-quarters of a million dollars in our business and not once ever did we discuss Minnesota tax rates. They’re irrelevant to me.
“If the tax rates to sustain the Minnesota I grew up in need to go up a little bit, as a small business owner and a member of the area chamber of commerce I’m more than happy to pay it. I’ll just go out and make more money. And that’s an incentive to me to make a little more money. We just never discuss Minnesota tax rates.
“I want the quality of life to stay the way it is in Minnesota, the way it is, the way I grew up in. And (Representative Steve) Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa), no offense, but we never discussed tax rates and I never would dream of leaving Minnesota. So thank you.”
During his brief statement at the forum today, Representative Steve Drazkowski (R_Mazeppa) did not say that taxes cause businesses to leave Minnesota. But the Republican party has made statements to that effect in the past.
