Accessibility menu
State Representative Tina Liebling
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0573
For more information contact: Ted Modrich 651-296-5809
NEWS COLUMN
REPUBLICANS CLAIM CREDIT THEY DON’T DESERVE
Republican legislators have recently tried to claim credit for the surplus in Minnesota's recent budget projection. They don't deserve it.
You can get the facts from Minnesota’s nonpartisan Office of Management and Budget, which has a detailed analysis of the projection available on its website (http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/fin/fu). That analysis shows that 62 percent of the surplus — $526 out of $876 million — comes from the last budget, passed by DFL legislative majorities and signed by Tim Pawlenty. Duane Quam, Mike Benson, Carla Nelson, and other newly-elected Republicans weren’t even in office when that budget was set.
Republicans should not get credit for the remainder of the surplus, either. 90 percent of it comes from projected savings in Health and Human Services, mostly from lower projections for Medicaid spending. Nothing the Republicans did resulted in the Medicaid savings reported in the forecast.
Federal health care reform helped create the surplus.
In 2014, the Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid coverage to poor adults without children no matter what state they live in. But in 2010 the new law gave Minnesota and a few other states the opportunity to start the expansion early, with mostly federal funding. Then-Governor Pawlenty wanted none of it, but as part of the 2010 budget deal with the DFL legislature he agreed to leave the option open for the next governor. One of Governor Dayton’s first acts was to exercise that option. Over the staunch opposition of the GOP and their Tea Party supporters, Dayton expanded Medicaid to cover more Minnesotans, protect health care jobs, and save money for Minnesota.
It worked. Of the $876 million surplus, $457 million is reduced spending on Health and Human Services--much of it because of health care reform that Democrats fought for and signed it into law.
But when Dayton became governor, Republicans took the majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate. They proclaimed that they would reduce the size of state government and wean Minnesota from federal money and control. They claimed the Affordable Care Act was bad, even unconstitutional. They railed against the new law throughout the legislative session, often without knowing the facts.
Now, Republican legislators should be thanking the Affordable Care Act for much of the projected surplus instead of patting themselves on the back. $125 million of the projected surplus is federal money Minnesota directly receives under the new health care law. In fact, the Affordable Care Act is projected to save Minnesota about $1.7 billion over five years, while giving many more Minnesotans the health care they need and deserve.
Republican policies have made our situation worse.
The projected surplus tells us we are on track to do better in fiscal 2012-13 than when the budget was set. If the projected surplus holds up in the next forecast, the legislature won’t have to make more cuts during the coming legislative session. That is good news for everyone, but even if the projection holds up we’re not out of the woods.
The Republican-controlled legislature’s recently enacted budget pays for operating expenses with money we don’t have--for the first time in Minnesota’s history. The “party of fiscal responsibility" proposed and enacted a budget that borrows $640 million dollars for operating expenses, a debt that will grow to about $1.2 billion by the time we pay it back. This borrowing scheme (which may be unconstitutional) was originally proposed by Governor Pawlenty and rejected by then-DFL legislative majorities. But this year, Tea Party Republicans in control of the legislature were so determined not to raise the income taxes of the wealthiest Minnesotans that they took out a high-interest loan instead.
That’s not all. The Republican majority delayed more payments to Minnesota’s schools with no solid plan to pay them back. This forced two-thirds of Minnesota schools to borrow money to cover operating costs. California—the poster state for fiscal crisis—is the only other state using school payment shifts to finance state deficits.
Despite our current short-term surplus, Minnesota now carries a $4.2 billion debt—to our schools and to investors. And that surplus only includes this two-year budget cycle: when the time comes to set the next budget, costs are again expected to exceed revenues by $1.3 billion, even if we don’t pay back the schools. (That figure doesn’t even include the effect of inflation on costs. If it did, the shortfall would be $2.6 billion.)
We all like good news, but let’s not get too giddy over the recent short-term budget surprise. Minnesota is in debt, our economy is still uncertain, and our people’s needs continue to grow. Rather than claiming an undeserved victory, Republicans should be working with Democrats to make Minnesota work for us all.
News Items
- Rep. Tina Liebling Named Chair of House Health and Human Services Policy Committee - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Statement on DEED Bonding Project Announcement - (Posted: 2012-09-13 00:00:00)
- Local Legislators to Hold Town Hall Meeting - (Posted: 2012-07-19 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.