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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Denny McNamara

359 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3135

For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317

Posted: 2011-03-25 00:00:00
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NEWS COLUMN

NEWS AND VIEWS WITH REP. DENNY McNAMARA

The top goal of this legislative session is to solve Minnesota’s projected $5.1 billion budget deficit, and recently House Republicans took the first step towards eliminating this shortfall. We now have a roadmap to follow that will reduce government spending and reform the way government operates. And, as many of you will be happy to see, it forces state government to live within its means.

So how do we plan to balance the budget? First of all, we won’t increase taxes. In fact, we proposed giving the middle class some tax relief. We also propose cutting $3.6 billion in future spending. The reductions will slow projected government spending by 13.1 percent.

Because our current state spending outpaces available revenue, it was critical that we set priorities. And the priorities in our budget are our classrooms, our veterans, and our courts, as their funding will be held harmless. We are also protecting our nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

How will we reform government? We have a variety of initiatives that will make government more efficient, including some that will reduce the size and cost of state government, close unnecessary government operations, improve our revenue collection process, eliminate fraudulent Medicaid payments, consolidate legislative back-office and administrative functions, and reform welfare.

There’s no doubt that when you cut spending by $3.6 billion, you have to make tough choices. But this budget is about fundamental structural change. The irresponsible use of one-time surplus money and stimulus funds to fund long-term needs kicked the can down the road. Now that problem is in our lap. The issue needs to be resolved and this bill does that while funding core priorities, reducing spending, and putting more money back in to the economy.

My thanks to those of you who have already taken my annual legislative survey. So far I’m seeing some interesting results, such as most respondents believing we should cut spending to balance the budget and should expand gambling in Minnesota. I will give a full update on answers to all of the questions in a couple of weeks. So, if you have not participated, I strongly encourage you to make your voice heard. Please visit www.house.mn/57B and click on 2011 Legislative Survey, or if you prefer to have a survey mailed to you, please call my office at 296-3135.

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