Leaders await forecast, seek fairness in budget plan

published 2/27/2009

House DFL leaders called the 23 town hall meetings held around the state a success in public problem solving, and said Minnesotans appear keenly aware of the deficit government has gotten itself into.

Unfortunately, that hole is expected to get deeper when the February Forecast is released on Tuesday, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) said during her weekly news conference.

More than 3,000 submissions on how to solve the state's biennial deficit have been received online and during meetings. Each will be forwarded to the respective legislative committees.

Among the top concerns expressed in the meetings, said Kelliher, was the need for fairness across the board: fairness with cutting programs, fairness when using the federal stimulus dollars and fairness with strategies for increasing revenues, such as income tax formulas.

No stone is being left unturned in search of revenue. A Rochester dentist informed legislators that a portion of insurance company reserves are derived from public funds. Access to those funds could help provide critical access dental care, an area doomed for budget cuts.

Kelliher stopped short of saying DFLers would propose tax increases, saying only that policymakers “shouldn’t ignore a whole tray in the tool box.”

Kelliher applauded Gov. Tim Pawlenty for agreeing to accept the federal stimulus money and said legislators will take a closer look next week at requirements, such as matching or competitive grant processes needed to maximize what Minnesota may receive.

Calling the federal stimulus money a “bridge into the future,” House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) said government leaders need to look beyond the next biennium and come up with a stable funding plan for government services over the long run.

HF886, which passed the House and Senate this week, was a bipartisan attempt to do that, said Kelliher. The bill requires that a the 2010-2011 biennial budget proposed by the governor also provide for a balanced General Fund budget in the following biennium. The legislation awaits the governor’s signature. A $4.6 billion shortfall is now projected for 2012-2013.

“There has to be a plan so no one area takes the burden,” said Kelliher, adding that about 85 percent of the current budget plan will most likely have to be reworked. “I do think it’s possible” to have a structured, balanced budget, she said.

- Mike Cook