Our new legislative session kicked off last week and Governor Walz has outlined some of his priorities. And while Democrats control all three chambers this time, that doesn’t guarantee anything will move forward and that includes the $17.9B surplus.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Walz’s Spending Plan:
- 🏗️ Infrastructure - An infrastructure bill did not pass the past two sessions, so it’s a priority. Since it takes a supermajority to pass, Democrat lawmakers could do a cash-only infrastructure package that bypasses that requirement.
- 🏟️ Stadium - The US Bank Stadium reserve fund will hit $368M in June. We need $377M to pay off the building 20 years early. If the legislature moves forward with that, the issue becomes the pull tab money that also goes into the fund.
- 🧾 Taxes - Walz wants to end the state tax for 90% of Minnesotans, with millionaires and billionaires still paying. He’s also pushing for a child tax credit.
- 🏫 Education - Walz wants part of the surplus to go to public school funding. That number is vague, but last year’s failed $1B proposal may be an indicator.
- 👪 Paid Family Leave - This is another priority for Walz this session. Previous proposals called for a state-managed program using a payroll tax.
🔥Bottom line: This session is going to require a lot of cooperation since there is a one-vote majority. More importantly, only one of these issues mentions anything about using the surplus, or even talking about how they plan to spend it.
What is your top priority this session?
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