Budget

Communities around the state are struggling to deal with the budget cuts imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment authority. Pawlenty signed into law $2.7 billion in cuts to local government aid, human services grants, higher education and medical assistance for the poor. Many parts of the state are bracing for the impact.

In a letter to Sen. Don Betzhold, DFL-Fridley, and Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he wouldn’t sign a bill that contained health benefits for same-sex couples. The omnibus state government bill currently being negotiated in conference committee provides domestic partner benefits for state employees. Pawlenty named that the top reason he wouldn’t [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his revised budget today, which proposes deeper cuts to health and social services while increasing K-12 education funding levels. Days earlier, Senate DFLers put forward their own proposal, which advocates across-the-board cuts to all state services while adding revenue by taxing Minnesotans with the highest income. The two budgets are very [...]

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with 13 moderate and conservative Democrats and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut on Tuesday as part of a group formed by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and based “loosely on the House Blue Dog Coalition.”
The new coalition is concerned with proposed tax hikes and spending. Klobuchar’s office said she [...]

Faced with a mind-boggling $5 billion budget shortfall, and fears of future cuts mingled with memories of last month’s “unallotment” of funds by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, many Minnesotans are pondering the state’s finances. To help, we offer a rundown of the basics of Minnesota’s budget.

As the budget battle at the Capitol gets going, Republicans are promising to obstruct efforts to both cut expenses and raise taxes. DFLers are looking at a pending stimulus plan from the White House in February in order to guide how the budget session takes place. And at least one DFLer thinks that Pawlenty might change his stance on taxes (or “revenue enhancements”) to help fill the historic $4.8 billion deficit.

As the 86th two-year session of the Minnesota legislature gets under way, Gov. Tim Pawlenty says there’s at least one option off the table to fix a state budget that faces a $4.8 billion shortfall: raising taxes.

Congress members will get a $4,700 increase as part of a yearly cost-of-living adjustment at the start of the year. The cost to taxpayers? About $2.5 million. But Rep. Tim Walz, DFL, will not be getting a raise: He’s returning it to the taxpayers.
Bluestem Prairie reports that each year Walz has to send a letter [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has floated the idea of a 1/8 percent sales tax reduction as part of his budget-balancing proposal. It may seem counter-intuitive to cut taxes in order to balance a budget, but Pawlenty was adamant that our fragile economy needed the kind of stimulus that could only be created by putting money back [...]

President Bush released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 last Monday (you might have missed it with Super Duper Tuesday the following day), and not very many people are happy with what it contains. Minnesota’s congressional delegation could find very little positive to say about the proposal. Even staunch Bush supporter, Rep. Michele Bachmann, [...]