While the state financial plan proposed by Gov. Tim Walz includes calling for a $900 million bonding bill, it also shows an unusual amount of spending restraint in areas that, if left unchecked, could threaten a balanced budget and financial stability.
It’s one of the most restrained budgets coming from a Democratic governor in some time. One of the biggest reductions in the growth of spending comes in transportation services for people with disabilities. The increase in spending has been on autopilot at about a 6% increase per year, and Walz wants to keep that growth lower.
The increase in the cost of the program over 18 months is more than the entire budget for Department of Natural Resources.
Walz says his budget and bonding proposal should attract bipartisan support. The spending restraint should be something Republicans can favor, and the bonding bill has many items that should draw support across the aisle. Walz is proposing $10 million toward the removal of the Rapidan Dam and replacement of the Blue Earth County Road 9 bridge across the Blue Earth River, a project that will have a total cost of $100 million.
Investments in Minnesota State University buildings at campuses across the state also make sense for urban and rural areas alike, although Walz wondered if there were citizen support for the $80 million replacement of Armstrong Hall on the Minnesota State University campus.
Walz said he favors a stand-alone bonding bill and will not be interested in trading bonding votes in exchange for ideological votes on things like limiting vaccines in schools or reproductive rights.
These pages have long favored stand-alone bonding bills. It’s just good government to consider things in conjunction with the Legislature’s own single subject rule. In the not so distant past, Democrats and Republicans negotiated bonding bills based on everyone getting some of the projects they needed in their own jurisdiction.
In the recent past, Republicans have wanted to tie their support of bonding bills to Democrat support of things like school vouchers or other non-related topics. That strategy is just a disservice to constituents who want government to do the basics and maintain state buildings. We must make investments before the cost of these projects skyrockets even higher.
Already, we’ve seen the lack of a bonding bill last year has caused the prices of some local college projects to skyrocket by 50% in some cases.
And bonding should be about getting necessary infrastructure to support critical functions like law enforcement. Walz said he believes there is bipartisan support for a new $68 million Bureau if Criminal Apprehensive lab in Mankato that will speed up investigations that have been unduly delayed with the current infrastructure. He thinks the lab will be especially helpful in gun investigations. And local law enforcement and courts certainly support this initiative as do we.
We also see reason behind limiting the growth in disability transportation services. Minnesota has the highest per capita funding on these programs at $55,000 per person, compared to an average of $25,000 for other states. Walz notes this isn’t about cutting services, it’s about limiting the growth in spending and delivering the service more efficiently.
And finally, the Walz budget, which he calls responsible, offers a plan for stabilizing state revenues and while lowering the sales tax rate, giving relief to anyone who buys taxable products in Minnesota. His plan calls for expanding the base of the sales tax so it would cover more services like estate planning services and other business services that are growing.
He said lowering the rate will give families a tax break while expanding it to services will be more easily absorbed by business and consumers who chose to hire those services.
It’s an idea that has been supported in the past by Democrats, Republicans and Independents, as former Gov. Jesse Ventura had proposed the same thing 25 years ago. It’s a strategy economists also endorse as one that could stabilize revenue and lower taxes.
There are plenty of common sense strategies in the Walz financial plan, including a budget at $66 billion, below the last two year budget that was $71 billion. The Legislature should take the Walz budget seriously and work with the governor to maintain the state’s strong business ranking and financial stability.