Minnesota has a 2.4-billion-dollar state budget deficit, according to the latest economic forecast just released. That is nearly a four-billion-dollar negative swing from the last forecast in February, which predicted a 1.5-billion-dollar budget surplus. The cause of course is COVID-19, which put hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans out of jobs and significantly reduced income and sales tax collections, both from individuals and businesses. Officials say tax revenues are expected to be 3.6 billion dollars lower, and state spending about 400 million dollars higher than predicted earlier. Minnesota has 2.3 billion dollars in its “rainy day” budget reserve, which could be used to soften the budget blow.
House Republican Minority Leader Kurt Daudt says Democratic governors in Wisconsin and New York have already come forward with billions of dollars in budget reductions, and it’s time for Governor Tim Walz to do the same.