Since Republicans took charge of both chambers of the Legislature in January, a tussle with DFL Gov. Mark Dayton over taxes and spending policy has been a sure bet. Still, the differences in the new House, Senate and gubernatorial budget bids for the 2018-19 biennium are startlingly large — and worrisome, given the weak capacity for compromise that Minnesota's legislative and executive branches have exhibited in recent years.
Dayton, GOP are far apart on budget proposals
Their visions are starkly different, and it's hard to envision compromise.
March 20, 2017 at 11:15PM
For example: Dayton's budget calls for $300 million in tax relief, much of it targeted to low-income families. The Senate GOP majority called Thursday for a tax cut three times that size. The GOP majority in the House — which must originate tax bills — tipped its hand Monday. It seeks $1.35 billion in tax cuts that would consume all but $300 million of a projected $1.65 billion surplus. That's four and a half times larger than the Dayton proposal.
Those numbers apply only to 2018-19. But the tax plans that Republican leaders have outlined include features that would take an ever-larger bite from state revenue in succeeding years. Those GOP intentions almost seem chosen to test Dayton's oft-stated resolve to hand his successor in 2019 a fiscally sound state budget, which he says is his proudest achievement after a long run of deficits.
When tax cuts grow, spending must shrink, in keeping with the state Constitution's balanced-budget requirement. The Republican budgets anticipate spending cuts in a number of as-yet-unspecified state agencies.
The GOP approach to education funding is bound to be a sore point with Dayton. The governor has made an increase in early education funding a top priority. If the GOP budgets allow for such an increase, it's not evident in E-12 and higher education spending targets that fall well below Dayton's. The House's bid is up $460 million from the forecast base for 2018-19; the Senate is at $390 million, and Dayton is at $1.03 billion as of Friday, when he called for more funding for school district preschool programs.
Between now and a May 22 adjournment deadline, Dayton and the Legislature are obliged to reconcile those differences. Readers can count on the Editorial Board to weigh in with a budget plan of its own. We'll aim for compromise between the competing plans at the Capitol because we think that's what Minnesotans expect. We hope legislators think so, too.
Investigations and politics will come; now is the time for mourning.
