What Business Thinks™ 2007—A Healthy 2007?

Two issues gained importance in the 2006 survey. One is, “How Minnesota colleges and universities are preparing students for the work force,” which moved up a notch to fourth, with a 4 or 5 rating from 64 percent of respondents. And “adequate transportation infrastructure” moved from   an eighth-place ranking to sixth, with a 4 or 5 from 57 percent of those surveyed. Both subjects received some attention in the capital investment bill signed by Pawlenty last spring. The bill included $307 million in new facilities and building improvements at public campuses throughout the state. The bill also earmarked $60 million for construction of the Northstar commuter rail line, which will serve an increasingly congested 40-mile corridor between Big Lake (just south of St. Cloud) and downtown Minneapolis.

Respondents also were asked about 14 issues that the legislature might address, rating them on a scale of “very important” to “not at all important.” Of those 14, business property taxes ranked seventh: 36 percent of respondents said it was “very important,” while 37 percent rated it “important.” Residential property taxes came next in the rankings, with a “very important” rating of 30 percent, and an “important” rating from 44 percent. Property tax reform didn’t get action in the 2006 legislative session. Business leaders indicate that both business and personal property taxes are areas of considerable concern that they want the 2007 legislature to address.

But what does the business community consider to be the most important issue for the legislature to address? No surprise here: health care costs, which received a “very important” or “important” rating from 92 percent of those surveyed, edging out government spending by one percentage point. Finishing third, rated “very important” or “important” by 78 percent, was education spending. Those three issues lined up in the same order of importance in the 2005 survey.

Somewhat unexpectedly, transportation didn’t gain much ground as an issue of importance for the legislature to address. In 2005, light-rail transit funding was deemed a “very important” or “important” legislative issue by just 45 percent of survey participants. The 2006 group nudged that up to 52 percent.

Once again, “keeping professional sports teams in Minnesota” finished in the lowest-priority position among issues for the legislature to take up, with a “very important” rating from just 10 percent of respondents, down from 16 percent in 2005. Perhaps that low figure reflects the fact that the Twins stadium issue has been settled—and that the Vikings have less leverage with the public (and the business community) than their baseball counterparts.