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...

While Minnesota Reinvests, Wisconsin Disinvests

by | Sep 28, 2017

Tax cuts enacted in the Badger State in recent years have contributed to a more regressive tax system and recurring revenue shortfalls, as noted in the preceding article in this series. Meanwhile, tax increases in Minnesota have not only made the tax system less...

The Connection Between Public Policy and Prosperity

by | Sep 27, 2017

Since the end of the Great Recession, Minnesota has comfortably surpassed Wisconsin in terms of GDP and income growth, and job creation. Based on newly released 2016 data from the American Community Survey, median household income in the Gopher State is 15.5 percent...

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

by | Sep 20, 2017

The education achievement gap in Minnesota is a real and persistent problem. For example, the 2016 graduation rate among black students was 22 percent below that of white students, while the rate among American Indian students was 35.5 percent below. While the gap in...

Income Inequality, Tax Regressivity are Worse Than We Thought

by | Sep 14, 2017

There has long been convincing evidence—both at the state and national levels—that income inequality has accelerated in recent decades, with an increasing share of wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Extreme income inequality—coupled with stagnant or...