ST. PAUL – Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, said Minnesota's budget-setting process is considered among the nation's most complicated. A joint House-Senate meeting took place Tuesday at the Capitol to discuss improvements.
Knoblach, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, developed the idea for the hearing and gained support for the meeting from Senate Finance Chairman Dick Cohen, D-St. Paul.
“I was very frustrated by the end of last year’s session, in which budget agreements were not finalized until the Friday before Monday’s adjournment,” Knoblach said. “As in past years, this led to 'round-the-clock meetings, with limited transparency, in circumstances that are not ideal for the Legislature doing its best work. This hearing was an effort to learn about what other states to do avoid these situations.”
The hearing included testimony from two officials of the National Conference of State Legislatures, who presented information about the budget processes of other states. One potential solution some states employ is a joint budget committee, which sets final spending levels earlier during the legislative session.
“Minnesota has fallen into a pattern where everyone is often waiting on the governor, Senate majority leader and House speaker to reach an agreement on the amount to spend in different budget areas," Knoblach said. “This agreement typically doesn’t arrive until the last minute. There are 49 other states that also have to adopt a budget, and this hearing was meant to learn about their experience and see what we could do differently.”
Knoblach has authored a provision that would set up an interim study on how to change the state’s budget process to reduce the likelihood of last-minute target setting. The provision is part of negotiations in the Supplemental Finance Conference Committee, which Knoblach co-chairs with Cohen.
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