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State Representative Kim Norton
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9249
For more information contact: Nick Halter 651-297-1934
NEWS COLUMN
Fixing our Problem
The dust has settled on the 2010 legislative session. When I arrived at the State Capitol this year Minnesota was in significant trouble. The recession had taken its toll on our economy and left too many Minnesotans out of work. This drop in jobs hurt our revenue projections and led to an increase in the deficit. With that in mind the Legislature set out to help short-term job growth and fix our immediate budget deficit.
We passed two major jobs bills this session. The first was a bonding bill introduced on our first day of work. It invested about $650 million in capitol projects aimed at getting Minnesotans off the bench while bolstering our infrastructure. From there we sponsored a jobs bill II centered on tax reforms. The new tax credits created will spur innovation in important new fields like clean energy and bioscience. All told these initiatives are helping to get nearly 20,000 Minnesotans back to work.
Then it was on to balancing the budget. Originally Minnesota Management and Budget projected the deficit would be just under a billion dollars. But this was before the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on the Governor’s unallotments. In a landmark decision the Court reaffirmed the role of the Legislature in the budgeting process. By a vote of 4-3 they said that Governor Pawlenty’s unallotments in 2009 were illegal.
Since those unallotments were unlawful our deficit shot up to $3 billion. We had to act fast in order to stabilize our state. Minnesota was in danger of experiencing a cash flow problem that had ramifications for everyone. Working across the aisle and with the executive branch, we came to a compromised short-term solution.
Although it was hard to cut $3 billion from the budget it was necessary for our fiscal health. The final bill took a large part of the Governor’s unallotments because the agencies and groups affected said they could manage those cuts, because they had already approved their budgets with the expectation that these funds wouldn’t be back.
We also passed a health and human services bill. Thankfully, it held the line on cuts to nursing homes. They have already faced harsh cuts in the last few years and we understood that any more would have been devastating. And more importantly, we enabled the Governor to sign up for an early opt-in to Medicaid.
Currently, for every dollar sent to the federal government we only receive 72 cents. If we did the early opt-in this number would change radically-for the better. By spending $188 million on health-care over the next three years we could capture $1.4 billion in federal dollars. That means every one of those health-care dollars spent in Minnesota would give us a seven dollar return. It would also completely restore funding to hospitals while saving or creating about 22,000 jobs in the healthcare industry.
Next session will be time to look at the long-term. In 2010 we shored up Minnesota. Our jobs bills and balanced budget provided the short-term relief our state needed to survive. It also gave us room to map out where the state is headed.
Adopting the opt-in will prove to providers and consumers alike that Minnesota cares about having healthy citizens. From there we can begin to pay back the money unalloted to our schools. That unallotment came in the form of a delayed payment and totaled $1.9 billion. Even though we have guaranteed to pay back these funds I understand schools are still facing hard choices. Many schools in Rochester have cut back on programs and teachers. But our highest priority was balancing the budget before the state went bankrupt.
Confronted with an unexpected crisis we acted to save the state quickly. Short-term solutions were employed to ensure we remained solvent. Now that we’ve balanced this budget, it’s time to look ahead. The time for short-term fixes is over. Next year we face another $5-$7 billion deficit. That challenge needs to be met with long-term, comprehensive solutions.
We need to get back to a Minnesota where the Governor and the Legislature work together to solve problems. Our state needs to deal with issues rather than borrowing to fix them. Next session will be about securing our future by standing up for the values Minnesotans believe in. It’s time to get back to a Minnesota where the jobs are plentiful, health-care is secure, and the next generation gets a world-class education.
News Items
- Rep. Norton Selected as Vice Chair of House Health and Human Services Finance Committee - (Posted: 2012-12-14 00:00:00)
- It’s Time for Legislature to Get Back to Basics, Balance the Budget Honestly - (Posted: 2012-12-11 00:00:00)
- Second Saturday Coffee Meeting Date Changed to December 9 - (Posted: 2012-12-03 00:00:00)
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