Pawlenty seeks help for businesses
ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivered equal amounts of patriotism and conservatism Thursday in his final State of the State speech. The Republican governor and potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate began his 33-minute speech praising the Minnesota National Guard, and spent much of his time in the packed House chamber promoting tax cuts and other proposals that he said would help business hire more workers.By: Don Davis, Worthington Daily Globe
- Pawlenty
ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivered equal amounts of patriotism and conservatism Thursday in his final State of the State speech.
The Republican governor and potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate began his 33-minute speech praising the Minnesota National Guard, and spent much of his time in the packed House chamber promoting tax cuts and other proposals that he said would help business hire more workers.
Reception to his speech was divided along partisan lines more than his previous seven. Pawlenty was interrupted for applause 25 times, although most Democrats joined in only about a half-dozen times.
The GOP governor talked about what he sees as the state’s poor tax climate for business and said government should shrink, all in the name of helping create jobs.
“So the most important question before us is this: How do we best grow good, private-sector jobs in Minnesota?” Pawlenty asked. “The people who can best answer that question aren’t in this room. They’re not in Congress. They are not in the White House. They’re not in bureaucracies. In fact, they’re usually not in government or politics at all.”
The governor said businesses are in the best position to help the economy, but state government needs to help them with lower taxes and a streamlined path to receive permits and licenses that government grants.
The speech was Pawlenty’s eighth and final State of the State, and his most closely watched nationally since he is a possible presidential candidate. Pawlenty sprinkled in national references, but national political observers were expected to be most interested in how closely the Republican governor adhered to conservative ideals on Minnesota issues.
The speech wrapped together things Minnesotans have heard from Pawlenty previously with themes like smaller government that he has pushed in 19 out-of-state appearances since he announced he would not seen a third term as governor last June.
Tags: state of the state, news, pawlenty, business, speech, jobs
More from around the web
RSS Feeds