Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty sent a letter to Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken urging them to work to remove a $40 billion tax on the medical device industry from the Senate Finance Committee health care reform proposal. In a letter, Pawlenty said the proposed market-share based tax would be a burden on this industry and would drain away funds needed for innovative research and development.
Minnesota is home to many organisations in the design and manufacture of medical devices including including Medtronic Inc., Boston Scientific Corp., 3M Co., and St. Jude Medical Inc. Together these companies directly employ 60,000 Minnesotans, with an additional 200,000 employed by hundreds of other companies that are vital to this economic sector.