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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Matt Dean

301 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3018

For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520

Posted: 2009-03-16 00:00:00
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PRESS RELEASE

MINNESOTA REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE 2010-2011 BUDGET PLAN

ST PAUL – Members of the House Republican Caucus today outlined their plan to balance the state’s budget deficit and set spending priorities for the 2010-2011 biennium. House Resolution 1 would set state spending at recent budgetary levels and would address all major budget areas and introduce reforms that will provide the structural balance needed to reduce the frequency and severity of future deficits and lay the foundation for the state’s economic recovery.
“This budget, at its core, uses priority based budgeting; just like thousands of Minnesota families do each month in their homes,” said Rep. Mark Buesgens [R-Jordan]. “They decide what is a “need” and what is a “want” and make decisions accordingly. State government should always function like that but it doesn’t. Now we have no choice; taxpayers will not put up with any new tax increases and the legislature needs to understand that.”
“There has simply been no call by Minnesotans to grow the size of government beyond what the state already brings in,” said Rep. Paul Kohls [R-Victoria]. “We don’t think – and I am positive that the vast majority of Minnesota taxpayers don’t think – that government has the right to treat citizens like an ATM machine. Limiting state government spending to only what it brings in from tax revenue is an easily understandable and fiscally responsible way to budget. That is what this plan is about.”
In addition to limiting state spending to existing tax revenue, the budget plan also contains a number of policy ideas and reforms for: growing jobs and the economy, public safety, health and human services, state government reform, transportation, tax reform, energy, the environment and education reform. “Every aspect of this budget proposal can be summed in four words: ‘live within our means,’” said Rep. Kurt Zellers [R-Maple Grove]. “Minnesota’s economy is driven by one thing: the choices our job providers – large and small – make every day. Whether they invest in their business because government creates incentives to do so, or they are forced to lay-off workers or relocate to other states because government penalizes their success, the best thing we as elected officials can do is to get out their way.”
One of the primary areas of reform addressed by this budget plan will be taxation and how state revenue is collected: “We need to change the way tax relief is discussed at the Capitol,” said Rep. Laura Brod [R-New Prague]. “Too often, tax relief and tax reform shows up as a cost to the state rather than a savings. To simply say that cutting taxes will only ‘grow the budget deficit’ is intellectually dishonest and ignores the fact that economic development is spurred by low taxes and pro-growth policies.”
Also addressed will be proposed changes to Minnesota’s health and human services budget; the fastest growing area of state spending. “Continuing to rubber-stamp increases in health and human services spending is going to bankrupt the state,” said Rep. Matt Dean [R-Dellwood]. “Our plan introduces reform and accountability measures that will provide better choices for patients, lower costs for taxpayers and fewer bureaucrats controlling Minnesota’s health care system.”
The budget will also introduce a number of government reform measures that will save Minnesota taxpayers money and reduce the overall size of government by handing over non-essential programs and services to the private sector. “From a hard salary freeze for all state employees to competitively bidding out services like wastewater treatment and transportation services, we need to make government smaller or we will continue to see budget deficits as the state appropriates more and more of what the private sector can and should be doing,” said Rep. Tom Emmer [R-Delano].
House Resolution 1 was introduced on January 22 and now incorporates budget numbers from the February forecast.

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