(St. Paul, MN)  --  With the start of the 2011 Minnesota legislature, many political analysts say tax hikes will be needed fill the state's six-point-two-billion-dollar budget hole.  Hamline professor David Schultz says part of the answer may lie in boosting so-called user fees on things like tobacco and alcohol.  Schultz says there could also be a push to broaden the sales tax and raise the tax rate on the highest earners.  Republicans are pledging to resist any tax hikes.  Schultz also expects Governor Mark Dayton and GOP majorities to collide over spending cuts.
Newly elected governor in Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has also convened a special session of that state's legislature to deal with the budget defecit and job creation.