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State Representative Michael Beard
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8872
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
NEWS COLUMN
BEARD: IT IS TIME TO RE-ESTABLISH FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
By Mike Beard
State Representative, Shakopee and Prior Lake
One year ago the economy was doing well and the Legislature was overflowing with ideas on how to spend the $2.2 billion state budget surplus. It was the first time in several years that we weren’t facing a large deficit. A new cast of leaders was eager to validate its sweeping victory in the 2006 election by turning their campaign promises into promises kept.
In the midst of the spending frenzy, I wrote to constituents my belief that “we need to be prudent with spending and not leave ourselves in a tough situation if the economy takes a sudden downturn.” There was at the time plenty of historical evidence to suggest such a downturn could take place. For years we have been riding this budget rollercoaster of large surpluses in the good times followed by large deficits in the bad times.
I was urging that we be fiscally responsible because I think we owe it to future generations to do our best at trying to level out these ups and downs. Every 10 years or so we seem to go through a series of budget deficits. We can’t ever completely insulate ourselves from larger economic forces, but I believe that fiscal responsibility is the key to making the down times less painful and less frequent!
However, the new legislative leadership had a different view and they pursued their spending agenda. Given their large majorities in the House and Senate, that is certainly their right. Assuming that the $2.2 billion surplus would fund it, they grew the state budget to $34.5 billion. Doing so left us vulnerable to the exact situation we find ourselves in today.
As we are all painfully aware, the economy did slow down and now the government doesn’t have the money to pay for $34.5 billion in spending. We are $953 million short for this budget and $1.1 billion short for the next budget.
Fiscal responsibility can prevent this from happening in two ways. First, it makes sure government sets the right priorities and spends money in ways that put economic growth before government growth. Second, it means that sometimes the best thing we can do is let taxpayers keep a little more of their money. The natural tendency of many lawmakers is to spend, spend, spend. But when that natural tendency turns into the enemy of growth then we need to stand up and give the money back to you so that you can put it to use in ways that help us grow.
Now that we can see the clear cost of pursuing a spending strategy without regard to fiscal responsibility, I hope my colleagues on the other side of the political aisle will step up and slowdown the growth of government spending. Fortunately we are less than halfway through the two year budget so we can reign in future spending without painful cuts. Now is not the time to raise taxes to support unaffordable government growth. It is time to re-establish fiscal responsibility as the foundation of a good government working in everyone’s best interest.
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