Minnesota Kids Above Average, But Not as Much as They Used to Be

by | Jan 11, 2018

Ten years ago, Minnesota failed to live up to its reputation for having a well-funded public school system relative to other states, as per pupil public school spending in the Gopher State dropped below the national average. While recent increases in school funding...

Minnesota Revenue & Spending Levels Typical of Other States

by | Jan 5, 2018

While Minnesota ranks fairly high among states in terms of per capita own-source revenue, total revenue, and total spending, these per capita measures are not a reliable way to gauge the relative size of government among states. As noted in the preceding article,...

Tax, Revenue, Spending Rankings in Perspective

by | Dec 29, 2017

Americans love rankings. We rank everything from Division 1 college football teams to states with the worst winters. (Without much trouble, you can probably guess which one Minnesota leads the nation in!) Policy nerds (like me) and politicians often talk about tax...

Minnesota: the Best Run State in the U.S.

by | Dec 27, 2017

Minnesota progressives can tout a new achievement: the state was recently ranked the best run state in the nation, according to a 24/7 Wall Street report published by USA Today. This report is not based on an ideologically skewed methodology designed to prefer blue...

State Deficit Worse Than It Appears

by | Dec 6, 2017

True to expectations, the condition of Minnesota’s finances has deteriorated from what was projected at the end of the 2017 special session. Based on the November forecast released earlier today, a modest deficit is now projected for the current fiscal year (FY)...

Low-Tax Wisconsin Losing More Income Tax Filers than Minnesota

by | Nov 29, 2017

In recent years, there has been a small net migration of income tax filers from Minnesota to other states. Conservative think tanks have argued that this net export of tax filers from the state is due to Minnesota’s tax climate—a claim debunked in a previous North...