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State Representative Joe Mullery
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4262
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
NEWS COLUMN
A LOOK AT THE BUDGET
Our legislature recently held a Leadership Summit (the governor refused to attend) to study our budget problems and the past and future historical trends we need to consider. We simply cannot continue the band-aid approach of our current governor. As we face a $5 billion deficit next biennium, our state general fund spending (when compared to personal income of Minnesotans)is as low as it’s been in 40 years.
The only major area where state spending is increasing rapidly is health and human services. Forty years ago it was 12% of the state general fund and now it’s about 30%. Medical Assistance and General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) have gone from 3% to over 25%; fully two-thirds is used for home care, nursing homes, and health care for impoverished seniors and the disabled. Contrary to popular belief, what was commonly known as “AFDC" constitutes only about ¼ of 1% of the state budget.
Even though we aren’t satisfied with it, Minnesota has some of the best health care systems in the country, both in quality and affordability. Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, recently indicated they were looking at Minnesota’s cooperative system as a model. The National Conference of State Legislatures held a health forum in July that extolled Minnesota and two other states for their systems. Our House DFL Caucus pushed through a pilot project last year that has been widely acclaimed as the wave of the future – paying hospitals and clinics a fixed amount for “high-repetition” patients (such as those needing kidney and cardiac care), since the best result for both the patient and the payor is making the patient do the routine things that make and keep them healthy.
We can’t just make drastic spending cuts or drastic increases in taxes to pay for necessary programs and services. That’s why I’m continually pushing for pilot programs that address problems in new ways, not just in our successful medical pilot program, but in all areas of the budget. I’ve done a lot of work on job training and job creation, and the Speaker of the House recently appointed me to a special task force to look at new ways to increase livable wage jobs. I always welcome your ideas; “think outside the box”.
There are some interesting figures on taxes. The state and local tax system is now more than seven times as regressive as the last time there was a DFL governor (1990). [A regressive tax is where rich people pay a lower percent of their income in taxes than other people.] Yet the governor vetoed a bill that would only have increased taxes by $109 a year for people making $300,000. At the same time, the governor unilaterally increased taxes on 84,700 senior and disabled renters by $144 a year when he reduced the Renter’s Credit by unallotment.
Our state demographer (who is considered one of the best in the country at predicting future trends), indicated our economic growth in the next 25 years will be about half what it was in the past 25 years. At the same time, the number of people over age 65 will double and they will need significantly more services. (Health care spending is nearly three times as costly for people 65 to 74 as for those 45 to 54.) We can’t compete with other countries for the lowest wages, so our future economic growth must depend far more on increasing the productivity of each worker; further, we cannot allow large percentages of people of color to fall behind on educational achievement and work readiness. We also need to provide the infrastructure (roads, internet accessibility, etc.) and scientific research to attract business.
Still, there are some positive signs. The Minnesota per capita personal income not only exceeds the national average for the first time, it is higher than California.
News Items
- Reminder: Primary - August 14; Some Voting Locations May Have Changed - (Posted: 2012-07-08 00:00:00)
- Passing of Dr. John Williams - (Posted: 2012-07-09 00:00:00)
- Rep. Mullery: 2012 Legislative Report - (Posted: 2012-07-10 00:00:00)
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