Tax Triggers: An Unnecessary Fiscal Autopilot

by | May 1, 2018

At least officially, Minnesota’s general fund is projected to have a budget surplus in the current and upcoming bienniums. Conservatives have proposed a “tax trigger” that would automatically reduce state individual and corporate income taxes whenever such a surplus...

October Update: We’ve Got Some Good News & Some Bad News

by | Nov 3, 2017

The October Revenue and Economic Update from Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) contained some good news and some bad news. The good news is that fiscal year (FY) 2017 revenue collections surpassed July expectations. The bad news is that FY 2018 revenues continue...

Tax Cut Driven Budget Problems Escalate in Future

by | Oct 9, 2017

The fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 state general fund budget surplus—projected to be $1.65 billion last February—could easily turn into a $104 million deficit after taking into account the tax cuts and other measures enacted earlier this year, as noted in the first part of...

Big Tax Cuts Jeopardize Fiscal Solvency

by | Oct 4, 2017

Going into 2017, Minnesota was looking at a large budget surplus for the upcoming biennium. By the time the dust had settled at the end of the 2017 special session, the surplus had been reduced by nearly ninety percent. After including the impact of lower than...

“Giving Back” What You Don’t Have

by | Mar 20, 2017

The tax cut plan released by Senate conservatives last week is still short on details, but here is some of what we do know: it will cut taxes by $900 million, presumably over the course of the upcoming FY 2018-19 biennium. The key elements of the proposal include a...