To pay for all this the DFL raised a range of taxes, including sales and gas tax, imposed new ones, such as on home deliveries and newly legalized marijuana, and hiked a range of fees on things like cars and boats. Primarily, they relied on hikes in pro-cyclical taxes such as “global intangible low-taxed income taxation” and a new net investment income tax. As Mark Haveman of the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence notes, “Minnesota is replacing the least volatile sources of state income tax revenue — salaries, wages, and Social Security income — with the most volatile sources.” If the economy hits trouble, so will the state’s budget.

All of this will exacerbate one of Minnesota’s persistent problems: the flight of residents to other parts of the United States, with Ron DeSantis’ Florida being the top destination. Indeed, the last two years have seen record numbers of Minnesotans fleeing the state. We are hemorrhaging residents, on net, in five of the six categories the IRS reports — including those under 26 — and in every income category above $25,000 annually.

[When capital flees, so do public services. Just ask California and New York, and San Francisco in particular. Even more, so do the kind of risk-takers needed for real economic health. The risk-takers are exercising that aspect by relocating for better potential elsewhere. I left for a variety of reasons, but taxes and stability were among them. — Ed]