Tech Firm Near Win in Quiet Push for Minnesota Tax Breaks
ST. PAUL (AP) — New details about a state push to recruit a giant pharmaceutical company are surfacing as the Legislature gets closer to signing off on a subsidy plan.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development has released a copy of a confidentiality agreement it signed with Baxter Healthcare Group while privately crafting the incentive package. The agreement was signed in early February and kept lawmakers in the dark about the plan until they began voting on the awards in April.
A state official says it's the cost of doing business, but some lawmakers say the secrecy went too far.
The Senate votes Monday on a large piece of the Baxter subsidy, an exemption from the state sales tax on construction materials. All told, the firm could reap $15.4 million in state assistance.
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