The Minnesota Independent

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Higher-ed in greater Minnesota braces for unallotment crunch

By Jon Pike | 06.23.09 | 11:49 am

For state college administrators, the announcement of the Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment plans was a good news/bad news story. The size of the budgetary hit was not as big as they expected. But, it’s still a substantial amount. The state’s two higher-education systems — which comprise 32 colleges and state universities, plus the four University of Minnesota campuses outside the Twin Cities — will each take a hit of $50 million dollars, or about a 3.6 percent drop.

Raise taxes? Rukavina broaches the taboo

By Paul Demko | 02.03.09 | 5:26 pm

Raising taxes to solve the state’s looming $5 billion budget deficit has generally been a verboten subject. But Rep. Tom Rukavina says its “nuts” to believe the state’s fiscal crisis can be fixed without additional revenues.