House and Senate announce budget sub-targets

The House and Senate have agreed on how to divvy up $283 million in supplemental spending.

The sub-targets for the supplemental budget bill, HF3172, announced Monday night by the conference committee co-chairs Rep. Lyndon Carlson Sr. (DFL-Crystal) and Sen. Richard Cohen (DFL-St. Paul), ranges from education to agriculture. The conference committee is expected to reconvene this evening to begin ironing out the specific spending provisions.

Most of the money would go to the supplemental budget bill, with some of the money going to other bills. House and Senate leaders agreed to reduce the target by $10 million from the overall number that was announced on May 1.

“This is a budget that invests in bread-and-butter priorities important to Minnesotans,” said Carlson, in a news release. “We can continue to grow our economy by focusing on priorities that will expand middle class opportunity, create more jobs, and improve the quality of education for our children.”

The sub-targets are:

• Health and human services: $103.9 million;
• E-12 education: $54 million;
• Judiciary and public safety: $35 million;
• Higher education: $22.25 million;
• Jobs and economic development: $19.8 million;
• Transportation: $15 million;
• Environment and agriculture: $12 million;
• State government and veterans: $705,000; and
• Bills with General Fund spending other than HF3172 (such as Women’s Economic Security Act and synthetic drug legislation): $20 million.

The increased spending is available from the $1.23 billion budget surplus that was announced in the February economic forecast. Lawmakers earlier this session enacted $450 million in tax cuts and federal conformity, spent $20 million on low-income heating assistance and deposited $150 million into the budget reserve. Besides HF3172, a second tax bill and two bonding bills are pending.

The news release from Carlson and Cohen said there will be $30 million left on the bottom line for the current budget period that ends June 30, 2015, and a $604 million projected balance for 2016-2017.