House budget targets expected next week

published 3/13/2009

House DFL leaders said the budget plan they will release next week will differ from the Senate DFL’s proposal for 7 percent across-the-board budget cuts.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) said the House’s budget targets, which should be available by March 20, may also include plans for increasing revenues; however, she said the details of any tax increases would be left to the House Taxes Committee.

Speaking at a media availability, Kelliher emphasized that the House’s solution to the state’s projected $6.4 billion budget deficit will focus on balancing the budget for four years, not just the coming biennium. She said the economic crisis calls for shared sacrifices for Minnesotans. (Watch)

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) said the House’s budget fix will also include a strategy to create jobs in the state. He said to expect little action on the House floor next week, other than perhaps a handful of bills that would not be “high-profile.”

- Nick Busse