Governor Walz released his "One Minnesota" budget for the FY20-21 biennium, which addresses a number of his key priorities. Increased Education funding was frequently touted during in his campaign and his new budget proposes increasing spending on schools, by over $700 million. In addition to education Walz has also put forth a number of proposals to make healthcare more affordable. Most notably, he proposes giving Minnesotans a chance to buy into the state healthcare plan. The third tier of his plan is focused on greater economic success, particularly in greater Minnesota, including more broadband. And, the Governor's budget also calls for $133.6 million to be spent on housing; a larger investment than called for by any other governor in state history.
As you can imagine, all of these proposals are not without costs. Overall, Walz is proposing more than $2 billion in new spending. So, even with the state's projected surplus of $1.5 billion he still needs to raise revenues to meet his goal. To help bridge that gap, the Governor is proposing a 20 cents per gallon gas tax to pay for new transportation infrastructure, increased tab fees, a motor vehicle sales tax and continuation of the provider tax, among other things.
This is an ambitious budget and not surprisingly it was met with loud opposition and heavy criticism from GOP leaders who have dubbed it "One Expensive Minnesota", citing $3 billion in proposed tax increases over the next two years and another $4.7 billion in tax increases for FY22-23.
If you would like to take a deeper dive into the Governor's budget and/or what is being said about it, here are a number of different links to get you started. Enjoy! lol
Gov. Tim Walz Unveils 'One Minnesota' Budget ...