Minnesota has another state budget surplus: $1.3B in latest economic forecast

Minnesota has another state budget surplus — 1.3 billion dollars, according to the latest economic forecast just released. The surplus has bounced back: The last forecast in February showed it at just over one billion dollars, a third less than the previous number one year ago — but now the surplus has returned to that well-over-one-billion dollar range. Democrats will likely use that as an argument for a larger-than-usual bonding bill for state public works projects — while Republicans have been urging fiscal caution. There’s speculation that lawmakers could use part of the money to reimburse the federal government for 29-million-dollars in overpayments that the state made to Native American tribes. The tribes have said they can’t repay it.