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A desperate candidate

To the Editor:

Recently, Zac Huntley submitted a rhetorical, partisan campaign letter in this newspaper that was off base and blatantly wrong. I actually debated not responding due to its ridiculousness, but I wanted to give readers the real story so fiction doesn’t supersede fact.

As chief author of broadband funding legislation, as vice chairman of the Minnesota House Education Finance Committee, and as an assistant majority leader, I can tell you there is no stronger legislative supporter for the needs of Greater Minnesota than State Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont.

I also want to remind folks that Gunther chairs the Minnesota House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Policy Committee. This means the two of us worked side by side this session on a plan that would improve broadband technology in our rural areas.

A $35 million broadband investment was passed by the House and Senate. Along with the $11 million allocation made last session, we have surpassed the amount dedicated for this reliable technology by an all-Democrat-controlled state government less than two years ago. Combined with federal funding, Minnesota will now see roughly $120 million in broadband investments in the next year alone.

Somewhere in Huntley’s head, he believes House Republicans don’t want to do anything for K-12 Education. So again, let’s look at the facts. Over the past two years, House Republicans and Rep. Gunther have supported roughly $600 million in new funding for schools statewide. In our state’s history, K-12 Education has never received more state funding and it is due to our support.

Huntley also calls a play directly out of the DFL playbook by repeating the tired Democratic mantra: “Republicans only want tax cuts for the rich.” Here is the actuality: in a bill approved on the last night of session, more than $800 million in tax relief will be delivered to middle-class Minnesotans over the next three years. The winners include parents, through the expansion of the working family tax credit and the childcare tax credit; Main Street business owners with the repeal of the commercial-industrial property tax off their first $100,000 of property value – which is expected to save the average business owner roughly $1,000 per year; farmers with some property tax relief from school bond levies; college graduates with a student loan tax credit; and veterans with an income tax exemption for their military pensions.

Maybe Huntley thinks these folks are “rich,” but I don’t.

Mr. Huntley, it’s nice to know you don’t let facts stand in the way of a good rant. You leveled your attack against Rep. Gunther less than a week before the end of session, which is similar to complaining about the taste of your Thanksgiving turkey before sitting down at the table. Huntley knew full well that many of our final broadband, education and tax relief decisions would be made days after he submitted his letter, but chose to begin his partisan onslaught before those provisions were approved in the House. Stay classy.

After all Bob Gunther has done for the residents of southern Minnesota – and Greater Minnesota for that matter – it was appalling to read Huntley’s irrational conclusions. There is no one who cares more about rural Minnesota and its citizens than Rep. Gunther, and I honestly believe Huntley knows this as well because his letter reeks of desperation.

State Rep. Ron Kresha,

R-Little Falls

Minnesota House

Assistant Majority Leader

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