The Invest in Minnesota campaign will seek to get legislative candidates on the record in support of increasing state revenue when the Legislature resumes work next year, said Dane Smith, president of Growth & Justice, a liberal think-tank participating in the campaign.

Smith and Christina Wessel, deputy director of the Minnesota Budget Project, made their pitch to a small group of educators and nonprofit workers Wednesday during a strategy session at the American Red Cross building.

Restoring a 9.7 percent state income tax bracket on Minnesota households earning $250,000 or more would raise almost $1 billion over the next biennium, Wessel said. That bracket was in place until 1999.

The group, which includes the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Minnesota AFL-CIO and Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, has picked up support locally.

Increasing state revenue needs to be “front and center" this election campaign, said Patrick Henry, a DFL activist and retired executive director of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research.

“I'm hoping in the run-up to the elections we can really make the case that 'no new taxes' is not traditional Minnesotan," he said. “If you want to 'Talk Minnesotan,' you want to talk about investing in the common good."

In addition to providing information, the campaign encourages local nonprofit groups to organize voter registration drives and candidate forums for the upcoming election.

How high?

Smith pointed to lists that put Minnesota 19th overall in state and local taxes as a percentage of income in 2006. The state is 32nd when federal revenue is factored.

“It's just not true that Minnesota is a high-tax, big-government state anymore," he said. “And the increases we have seen have all been regressive. People in the top 10 percent of incomes pay a lower percentage of that income than anyone else."

Phil Krinkie agrees that the Legislature has raised taxes on people who are least able to pay them. But the president of the conservative Taxpayers League of Minnesota said that's no reason to give lawmakers a blank check to hike taxes.

“They always say they want to tax the rich and help the poor," Krinkie said of the other group's efforts. “But in reality, they'll take it any way they can get it. They're never satisfied with the amount of revenue going into state government, that's being extorted from the taxpayer. It's never enough."

Long road

With a projected state budget deficit next year of $1 billion to $2 billion, Wessel admits raising the income tax won't fix all the state's problems.

“We won't get this solved in one session," she said. “It's taken us 10 years to get to where we are. After so many years of cutting back, there's no way we can meet all the pent-up demand."

But problems such as high tuition, K-12 funding gaps, collapsing bridges, cuts to public defenders' budgets and other things that have marked Minnesota's “slide into mediocrity" won't get undone without first recognizing more revenue is needed, she said.

A comprehensive solution must incorporate increased revenue and increased accountability from groups arguing for more money, said Jerry Von Korff, St. Cloud school board member.

“The problem will not get solved without more revenue and labor coming to the table," he said. “We need more revenue, but we need a dialogue on reform and accountability too."