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Minnesota Budget Plans

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The state of Minnesota's budget determines what resources are available for everything from schools to health care to parks to transportation. 

Understanding the budget proposals that are on the table, as well as what ultimately gets passed into law, is essential information you can use to become involved in influencing budget decisions. We analyze full budget proposals, as well as proposals on key components of the budget, from the governor and legislative bodies, emphasizing public services that expand opportunity and economic security to more Minnesotans.

Research

September 2009

Unprecedented: Governor Pawlenty's unallotments cut $2.7 billion from state budget

Governor Makes Unprecedented Use of Unallotment Authority The primary challenge of the 2009 Legislative Session was to...

July 2009

Surprise resolution to 2009 Legislative Session leaves long-term deficits

The 2009 Legislative Session ended in May with the job only partially done. Legislators and Governor Pawlenty spent the session attempting to negotiate a solution to a $4.6 billion state budget deficit for the FY 2010-11 biennium. As the legislature reached the constitutionally prescribed adjournment date on May 18, a $2.7 billion deficit still remained. After the session concluded with no negotiated agreement, the Governor exerted his authority to unilaterally “unallot” spending to resolve the remaining deficit and bring the budget into balance.

In the end, the FY 2010-11 budget deficit was resolved using a combination of spending reductions and one-time budget-balancing measures. The decision to rely heavily on one-time measures to fix the current deficit will have long-term implications as Minnesota is facing persistent budget deficits.

This analysis begins with a brief overview of the major elements of the solution to the FY 2010-11 budget deficit, then goes into greater detail to explain the budget proposals from the Governor, House, and Senate, and the final decisions that were reached.

April 2009

Round two: Governor increases use of one-time resources in revised budget

Governor's Revised Budget Proposal Offers Short-Term Fix for Long-Term Budget Problems The real work of the 2009 Legisla...

April 2009

Consequences of Governor Pawlenty's FY 2010-11 budget proposal

Governor Pawlenty's Budget Proposal Would Impact Struggling Minnesotans The State of Minnesota is in fiscal crisis. Min...

Minnesota Budget Plans Blog Posts

March 23, 2023

Early agreement on state budget targets outline use of the surplus

On Tuesday, the Minnesota House and Senate leadership and Governor Tim Walz released joint budget targets that lay out ...

February 01, 2023

Governor Walz releases FY 2024-25 budget priorities

In his proposal for the two-year FY 2024-25 budget cycle, Governor Tim Walz proposes $11.2 billion in additional funding for public services, with the largest amount of new dollars going toward education, economic development, and health and human services. He also proposes $5.4 billion in tax reductions in FY 2024-25, with the biggest component being a one-time tax rebate. Read more in our blog.

June 07, 2022

Mental health bill takes important steps forward in addressing state’s crisis

Minnesota legislators took important steps toward shoring up our state’s mental health system by allocating $93 million over three years aimed at increasing the number of providers, supporting mental health crisis services, and reducing racial disparities in mental health services.

May 26, 2022

What passed, what’s unfinished business after end of 2022 Legislative Session

On Monday, the 2022 Legislative Session officially ended, but what did policymakers actually pass into law? With a his...