Author: MinnPost

Had Gov. Tim Walz’s budget office presented the latest economic and revenue forecast one week ago, it would have reported a $19 billion revenue surplus. But when Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter walked to the podium Monday, he revealed a surplus of $17.5 billion. What changed in one week to reduce the reported surplus? Did state tax collections plummet from previously robust levels? Did some new spending priority gobble up a billion and a half dollars? Did a long-expected but never-quite materializing recession slam the state and its finances? None of that happened. Tax collections, in fact, are…

Hiring and keeping staff has been the greatest challenge for the Stay ’n Play child care centers in Litchfield and Willmar. Pay is typically around $15 an hour, including a $2 bonus that stems from federal COVID-19 relief money. But raising wages above that would mean increasing tuition, which executive director Kristin Jaquith said isn’t so easy. “Parents can’t afford to pay any more,” Jaquith told MinnPost. “We’re rural, so our rates are quite a bit lower than what they are in the metro.” Jaquith’s dilemma is not unique. Industry leaders and politicians — all the way up to Treasury Secretary…

The conversation about providing school lunch and breakfast for all Minnesota students has been carried on at two levels: one on food, one that dips into the arcane nature of school funding. One has been very public, the other less so. After passing the House of Representatives on a party line, House File 5 is expected to receive similar treatment in the Senate. The $190 million a year price tag for expanding free and reduced price lunch to all students, regardless of family income, has the support of Gov. Tim Walz, who has included it in his proposed budget for the next…

When a student at a St. Paul grade school last week asked Gov. Tim Walz why he wanted to be governor, he quickly said: “For this day. For THIS day,” referring to the release of a $5.2 billion boost for education and families with kids, part of a $65.2 billion proposed budget. Coming up with a two-year budget plan is far more fun when a governor gets to increase spending and cut taxes, and a $17.6 billion surplus means Walz gets to do both. In fact, the fun volume this year is at levels perhaps never seen before, as past…

As Minnesota Democrats move quickly to adopt a bill that would cement the right to an abortion in state law, Republicans have accused them of allowing late-term abortions, up until the moment of birth. It’s an argument the DFL has painted as hyperbolic and misleading. Democrats say the Protect Reproductive Options Act — or PRO Act — only reinforces existing standards in the 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that established abortion rights and does not address time limits for the procedure. State data also suggests late-term abortions are rare. The Minnesota Department of Health reported one abortion after 24 weeks of gestation in 2021…

The bill legalizing marijuana in Minnesota is 243 pages plus appendices. While it relies on a dozen existing state agencies, it also creates a new one with sweeping authority and perhaps unrealizable marching orders. It would make Minnesota the 22nd state to go down this path since the first ones acted a decade ago. And, according to its sponsors, it is likely to pass before this Legislature adjourns in May. It is House File 100 and here is a walk-through of its provisions as introduced earlier this month. When could the program take effect? That is the most-asked question from those interested…

Minnesota may have a staggeringly-large $17.6 billion budget surplus this year, but as the first week of the 2023 legislative session draws to a close, the biggest and most controversial issue in front of lawmakers so far has been abortion. Top DFL leaders say moving fast to cement abortion access in state law — as a backstop to a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling establishing rights in the Minnesota Constitution — is a top priority for the nascent Legislature, showing urgency driven less by any sort of deadline than a desire to capitalize on an issue Democrats believe is the…

DFL Gov. Tim Walz was sworn in for a second term on Monday, and the Minnesota Legislature will hold swearing-in ceremonies and gavel into session on Tuesday afternoon. Here are seven things to keep an eye on as the 2023 session of the Minnesota Legislature convenes. A surprising DFL trifecta will take power for the first time in a decade. But that has both positives and negatives for Walz and legislative leaders. Will anything pass early? It is one of the great clichés of the Minnesota Legislature that certain issues can pass in the opening weeks and provide “early wins.”…

The state agency that is the closest thing to a regulator of newly legal hemp-based edibles wants out of the business. The state Board of Pharmacy, a small agency not often in the news, repeated Monday that it lacks the people, the budget and the expertise to regulate the manufacturing and sale of hemp edibles – gummies, vapes and seltzers included. Without licensing or taxation, the small board with just five inspectors doesn’t even know the size or scope of the business it is charged with overseeing. “We’re limited in what we can do,” board executive director Jill Phillips. “These are…

The Minnesota revenue surplus is now $17.6 billion. That’s a lot for a state that spends about $2.16 billion a month and sets up Gov. Tim Walz and the DFL-controlled Legislature to increase spending and reduce taxes. “Strong collections and lower-than-projected spending add to the fiscal year 22-23 surplus,” Minnesota Management and Budget reported Tuesday morning. “Economic headwinds lower expected growth but (a) large leftover surplus and healthy net revenues in fiscal years 24-25 create estimated $17.6 billion available for (the) budget.” Prior to this update, the state was officially sitting on a $12 billion surplus for the final six…