RealAudio 2.0 14.4

AS HUMPHREY SEES IT, SEVERAL FACTORS ARE necessary for economic development - if businesses have well-trained workers, competitive tax rates, good transportation, and Internet access, they can provide quality jobs anywhere in the state. Although Minnesota's unemployment rate is at an all-time low, there are pockets of high joblessness, and Humphrey says the state can make it more attractive for businesses to locate in rural communities and inner-city neighborhoods.

Humphrey: These days in Gaylord, Minnesota, you can have a company that's selling worldwide! So we need to make sure that there is the kind of electronic access and access to markets that companies need, so that's very important. Now the other part of that is - particularly in some of the more poverty-stricken areas - we need to make sure that businesses feel comfortable expanding in those areas. I'll tell you, I am very pleased to see the commitment that Honeywell has made, for example, in the Phillips neighborhood.

Humphrey: I don't think we're doing the right thing when we say, "Well, economic incentives are to put $40 million worth of tax dollars into moving a company from where? From Minneapolis to Saint Paul?" That's a misuse! I don't think public tax dollars should be used in St. Paul to steal a company from Minneapolis!

Humphrey : We don't need to be lining the pockets of wealthy sports-club owners with public dollars. I mean, you know, if they want to have their teams have new stadiums, well then they can darn well, you know, fund it themselves!