Mark Dayton: “this amendment has three parts. First, it increases the Federal funding for special education to the 40-percent share…”

“this amendment has three parts. First, it increases the Federal funding for special education to the 40-percent share that was promised for the last 27 years. This year the Federal funding for special education is less than half of what was promised 27 years ago. In my State of Minnesota, this broken promise for special education means cuts in Federal programs that occur across all schools for all students, and it also means higher property taxes for the citizens of my State. I can't believe the other States in this Nation don't encounter the same problems when the Federal Government doesn't fund one of its two most important commitments to education at even half the level it has promised for over a quarter of a century. The second amendment would reduce the Federal deficit by $1 million a year for each of the next 5 years. To pay for this, I would increase the top tax rate from 35 percent to 38.5 percent. The average income of Americans in that top tax bracket is over $1.1 million. Of course, they don't pay that top rate. Their income from dividends and from capital gains is now taxed at 15 percent. With the lower rates and other loopholes, most of America's multimillionaires and billionaires pay lower tax rates than most middle-class working Americans. The question is, Whose needs are more important america's schoolchildren who have the greatest needs or America's superrich who have the greatest connections?”