Accessibility menu
State Representative Tim O'Driscoll
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7808
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
HOUSE BRIEFS
February Forecast Shows Additional Budget Surplus
Greetings!
The Minnesota Management and Budget’s February forecast, which was released this week, showed an increased budget surplus of $323 million. This, in addition to the $876 million surplus from November’s forecast, adds up to a $1.2 billion projected increase for the current biennium.
The legislative initiatives from last session and better-than-expected economic growth have helped to turn a $5.1 billion deficit to a $1.2 billion surplus in one year's time. This is a remarkable turnaround!
You can find a statement on the surplus by Rep. Kurt Zellers, the Speaker of the House, here.
While most of this surplus will be used to replenish state reserves, $318 million will go to repaying school aid shifts. As I’ve suggested before, these numbers are subject to economic conditions. We must remain diligent and stick to the reforms and responsible budgeting that brought us to this point. There is still work to be done to finish repaying the shift and get our budget completely back to balanced, but these forecasts clearly show that we are headed in the right direction.
Another piece of encouraging news, Minnesota's 5.6-percent unemployment rate is well below the 8.5-percent national average. The almost 3% difference signals that our state's economy is in better shape than most. Minnesota's unemployment rate is also falling faster than the national average.
School Start Bill
This week in Education Reform Committee, we debated a bill that would permit a school to start prior to Labor Day. This is a compromise that would allow a flexible start to the school year, but would still require that schools not hold session on the Thursday/Friday before Labor Day. I am a supporter of local control when it comes to decisions like this.
Vikings Stadium Plan
The Vikings, along with Governor Dayton, announced this week that they had reached a proposal agreement. The stadium plan would include a $398 million up-front building cost contribution from the state. This money is suggested to be raised through an expansion of state sponsored electronic pull tabs.
The proposal also includes a $150 million up-front contribution and $188.7 million in operating and capital expenses from the city of Minneapolis. The up-front costs would be paid for by extending existing convention center and hospitality taxes (a 0.5% sales tax, a 3.0% downtown restaurant tax, a 3.0% downtown liquor tax and a 2.625% lodging tax) until the year 2045.
This proposal must be approved by the Minneapolis City Council, the State Legislature and the Governor before it could go into effect.
Did you know…
Monthly Unemployment Rates
January 2011 = 6.8%
February 2012 = 5.6%
Difference = 1.2%
When I took office in January of 2011, the monthly unemployment rate was at 6.8 percent. The unemployment rate from the MMB’s 2012 February forecast is 5.6 percent, 1.2 percentage points lower. This represents an increase of roughly 35,000 jobs in the last 13 months. With employment prospects continuing to improve in Minnesota, the unemployment rate should hopefully continue to drop.
Until next week, best wishes.
-Tim
News Items
- O'Driscoll Begins Second Term in MN House - (Posted: Jan 11 2013 4:00PM)
- MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF BILL TO MODIFY MANDATORY TIERED WATER PRICING FOR CITIES - (Posted: 2012-04-02 00:00:00)
- REPRESENTATIVE O’DRISCOLL’S LAND TRUST BILL PASSES THROUGH THE HOUSE - (Posted: 2012-03-19 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.