Dear Neighbor,
So, it’s good news that Minnesota Management & Budget is reporting a surplus of around $1 billion through the next biennium … right?
It’s great news if you are government. Taxpayers? Not so much. It means Minnesotans overpaid the government by $1 billion. You won’t see that headline, though. Nobody wants to brag about that.
For the current biennium, there is a $556 million projected balance. $183 million of this biennium’s balance will automatically go into the state budget reserve leaving $373 million. The projected surplus for Fiscal Years 2016-17 is $664 million. Combined with what is left from Fiscal Years 2014-15, there is $1.037 billion available in the upcoming biennium.
The thing I keep coming back to is this: Is this “surplus” the result of too much taxation or too little government spending? I’ll stick to the former, but I promise there are Democrats in every corner of the Capitol saying they UNDERSPENT!”
I just don’t get them.
Anyway, we are in the process of putting things in pace for a new Republican majority to take office in the House this January. Mission No. 1 for me is to bring some fiscal responsibility to this state.
You may have heard about how Democrats increased our taxes/fees by more than $2 billion in the last two years and how our state spending is up to nearly $42 billion.
Try $5 billion in tax increases.
And $71 billion total state spending.
Is that enough?
Those are the totals – when you consider federal taxes and full state spending – that we should consider as we shape a new budget in 2015. Yet, you can bet anything Democrats will rush to find new ways of spending more this session.
My advice is to give Minnesota taxpayers a break. They are the ones who overpaid in the first place. Families aren’t making more money, so why is government?
Let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you as we start planning for the new session.
Sincerely,
Mark