ST. PAUL, MN—Rep. Anna Wills, R-Apple Valley, issued the following statement regarding the release of the budget forecast by Minnesota Management and Budget. The projected surplus for Fiscal Years 2016-17 is $664 million. Combined with $556 million in projected surplus from Fiscal Years 2014-15, there is $1.037 billion available in the upcoming biennium, but those projections do not account for inflation.
"Governor Dayton's budget commissioner called the surplus a "wash" when you account for inflation, so it's important for the legislature to exercise restraint and caution rather than looking for more ways to spend taxpayer dollars," Wills said. "We can fund our priorities and even put a bit more money back in the pockets of Minnesota families if we continue to respect their tax dollars and cut wasteful spending while making government more efficient."
The full Budget and Economic Forecast by the Minnesota Management and Budget Office can be found
here.
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