Updated budget numbers show economic improvement following GOP fiscal policies of 2011
ST. PAUL – State Representative Duane Quam (R-Byron) responded to the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) budget forecast today with the following statement:
“Minnesota’s projected budget deficit for 2014-2015 is now $627 million, a small fraction of the original estimate of $4.4 billion two years ago. We saw today the impact of the Republican fiscal policies from 2011 have had on Minnesota’s economy and our overall budget situation. Just two years ago, Republican majorities in St. Paul took on the difficult task of balancing the state’s massive budget deficit while not impeding the economic growth necessary to refill state revenue accounts. The 2011 legislature erased a $5 billion hole for fiscal years 2012-2013 and turned it into an eventual $2.8 billion surplus which was announced today. Minnesota has refilled its cash flow and rainy day fund accounts, and is once again on the right path thanks to sound management of the state’s finances and a commitment to keeping taxes low. Our policies have delivered steady, consistent improvements to the budget outlook.
I am also proud to report that another $290 million from the updated budget will be directed to buy down the K-12 school shift. All in all, the Republican budget has paid back the entire school shift enacted in 2011 and is now being directed towards the DFL school borrowing that occurred in 2010. Two years ago the shift was 30 percent, and by the end of this budget, it will be down to 13.5 percent.
When Minnesota businesses and entrepreneurs are allowed to grow and thrive without government overreach, they hire more workers and increase output that provides the state revenue we need to deliver good services to all Minnesotans. Looking even further out, the current economic principles we have in place (pending a large tax increase from Governor Dayton and DFL leaders) will allow for a state budget surplus of $782 million in years 2016-2017.
I will continue to support limited spending and pro-growth tax policies that bring economic results like the ones revealed today. Given this new information, Governor Dayton’s plan to raise taxes on Minnesota’s middle-class by $2 billion to fill a $600 million hole is not the right solution.”
Representative Quam is a second-term lawmaker from District 25A and serves on the Education Finance, Energy Policy, and Health & Human Services Finance Committees in the Minnesota House.
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