House District 10B
Mark Murdock
Occupation:
Retired hardware store owner
Relevant education and experience:
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I have a four year degree in history and political science from Sourhwest Minnesota State, Marshall, Minn. Married to my wife Pat for 36 years and have raised two adult sons. I have been self-employed for the past 27 years in retail hardware and I understand what it takes to make a living on main street. I have served on two board of directors, one being the Dodge County DAC, and the other is the board of Claremont State Bank, Claremont, Minn. The most important experience I have has been in serving you as your State Representative for District 10B.
1. What would you be able to accomplish in St. Paul to help the people affected by tornadoes in Wadena, Bluffton and Deer Creek Area?
My heart goes out to all of the victims of the June 17 tornadoes. We have accomplished a lot already by passing the emergency relief bill in special session on Oct. 18. This relief bill, which I co-authored, was good for our area and I was proud to speak in favor of it in committee, on the House floor, and at the governor's press conference after he signed the bill. I can assure you that as the recovery process goes on, there will be some needs to be taken care of, and I will continue to work for what is in the best interest of District 10B.
2. What do you think is the appropriate role of state government?
The role of state government is to sit on the sidelines and be an aid to the people of Minnesota. Right now, the government is a burden on the people of Minnesota with high taxes and out of control spending. We need to be fiscally responsible and live within our means. The most important role for the government right now is to help get our people back to work in Minnesota.
3. Rank these five priorities from 1 to 5, and give reasons you ranked them that way: education funding, tax cuts, immigration reform, local government aid and health care.
I see all five as very important priorities. Number one would be tax cuts, as that would create jobs and that would bring more revenue in to the state. Education, health care and local government aid would be numbers two, three and four. All of them are tied to revenue. As revenue goes up, so will the funding. Immigration reform comes in number five but it is still important as our health care costs are inflated by illegal immigrants being treated at taxpayer expense.
4. How do you feel you differ most as a candidate versus your opponent?
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Where I differ the most from my opponent is on taxes and jobs. Simply put, lower taxes lead to job creation. Minnesota has the fourth highest corporate tax in the developed world and we need to cut that in half for a start. My opponent wants tax credits for businesses and I have never seen that work. He also wants to balance the budget with cuts and revenue increases. Cuts are fine, revenue increases will kill any hope of a job recovery in Minnesota. We can not take money out of people's pockets when the economy stinks as they can not afford it. We have to be fiscally responsible and live within our means.
