Minnesota expects to end its fiscal 2016-17 biennium with a $1.87 billion budget balance, more than double the $865 million surplus projected earlier this year, the state reported on Thursday.
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The surplus comes from a variety of factors, including tax collections streaming in above earlier estimates. Law requires $665 million of the surplus to go automatically into the state’s budget reserves, leaving $1.2 billion of the surplus available to legislators next session.
Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt says the money should go to tax cuts and fixing roads and bridges.
“With this surplus we have the opportunity to meet the unmet needs that were put off and are now in crisis like transportation and infrastructure, education, and other disparities”, Minnesota DFL chairman Ken Martin said in a statement. State finance officials have a goal of building that above $2 billion.
Exports fell and investments dropped in the wake of lower oil prices, Management and Budget reported.
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For the change from big deficit to surplus, he credited working Minnesotans and he said that “my first rule is to be responsible” using the surplus. House Republicans earlier this year started out with no broadband funding, but eventually agreed to $10 million.
