A Citizen Compass poll--commissioned by the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses and released today--concludes that Minnesotans strongly believe that $35 billion is enough to address the state's priorities. Seventy five percent of respondents believe if the Legislature did a better job of spending money, they wouldn't be talking about a tax increase.

Other findings include:
- 83% believe that business principles and practices should be applied to government to control spending.
- 79% believe the state should set spending based on available funds, while just 18% believe the state should set taxes based on how much legislators want to spend.
- 69% believe that state programs should be reexamined each year to see if more or less money is needed, compared with 30% that believe inflationary adjustments for spending in budget forecasts is responsible fiscal management.

The survey was administered to 629 randomly selected adult residents of Minnesota by Decision Resources, Ltd. between February 8-19.  The Twin Cities North Chamber is not a member of the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses.

Read the entire survey report here: 2007 Citizen Compass Report (PDF document).