State budget needs repairs that last - Star Tribune

Lori Sturdevant, Star Tribune, December 14, 2009

Payment delays, revenue speed-ups and other one-time accounting gimmicks are bound to tempt state lawmakers in coming months, as they attempt to close the $1.2 billion gap between spending and revenues that's developing in the current state budget.

But $3.8 billion in one-time measures are already at play in the current budget period, a legislative leadership panel was told Monday. Adding more would only widen a yawning budget gap projected for 2012-13.  The projected cost of current state programs in 2012-13 is already 23.5 percent greater than the amount of the state's own (non-federal) resources it expects to spend in the current two-year budget period.

Those figures underscore an important aspect of the fiscal work that awaits the 2010 Legislature. The state Constitution requires that lawmakers balance the spending and revenue sides of the state's ledger.

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Our battered state budget: What's the cure? - Star Tribune

Marcia Avner, Mark Haveman, Jim Miller, Phil Krinkie, Nan Madden, and William Blazar, Star Tribune, December 6, 2009

Should the state raise taxes? Cut spending? Throw out all budget notions and start over? Six experts offer ideas on fixing the budget once and for all: Marcia Avner, Mark Haveman, Jim Miller, Phil Krinkie, Nan Madden, William Blazar.

MARCIA AVNER, public policy director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

For a decade of budget debates, we Minnesotans have been caught in the trap of false choices. What do we cut? Health care or job training? Whom do we blame? Who takes the heat in the next election?

Maybe last week's news about the deficit will jolt us out of our acceptance of polarized politics, foolish choices and gridlock.

Here's the reality: The state isn't falling into neglect and disrepair because of forces beyond our control. Minnesota has made the clear and continuing political choice to cut taxes, creating ongoing deficits, which result in reduced services -- which result in a poorer economy.

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The $1.2 Billion Question: How do we solve the state's projected budget deficit - Bring Me The News MN

Dan Haugen and Whitney Stewart, Bring Me The News, December 2, 2009

The state's budget office today released its annual fall economic forecast, which predicts the state is on pace for a $1.2 billion deficit at the end of the current two-year budget cycle, which ends June 30, 2011. About 70 percent of the shortfall is due to lower than expected income tax revenues, which plummeted as employers in the state laid off workers, cut hours and reduced pay to their employees.

Now comes the question of what to do about the projected deficit. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the situation is urgent enough that he may use unallotment this month to cut local governments aid, while others say the numbers could easily change before the budget cycle ends and that we have time to wait and see. The following is a summary of some of the solutions being proposed by politicians and others. We'll be updating throughout the day:

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Pawlenty to appeal ruling - Minnesota Public Radio

Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio, December 31, 2009

St. Paul, Minn. — Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday he will appeal a judge's ruling that he overstepped his authority by unilaterally cutting the budget last spring.

Pawlenty made the announcement less than one day after Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin ruled the governor "crossed the line" between his unallotment authority and interference with legislative powers. Gearin ordered the reinstatement of a $5 million food program the governor cut last summer.

Pawlenty said Judge Gearin "has inserted herself in the middle of a political dispute," and that she misapplied and misinterpreted the unallotment statute.

"That degree of involvement by the court is concerning, to say the least," Pawlenty said during a news conference at the State Capitol.

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Bulletin: Judge grants order temporarily restraining Pawlenty's use of unallotment - MinnPost

Eric Black, MinnPost, December 30, 2009 

The order has just been published. Here.

Judge Kathleen Gearin, chief judge of the Ramsey County District, has granted a temporary restraining order, retroactive to Nov. 1, preventing one piece Gov. Tim Pawlenty's use of his unallotment powers. Specifically, she is restoring the funds unallotted from a state program that subsidizes Minnesotans with special health-related dietary needs. Pawlenty unalloted that program in its entirety. The judge's order un-unallots it. But the logic of her order affects the entire $2.7 billion unallotment that Pawlenty ordered at the end of the 2009 legislative session and seems to invite other plaintiffs to come forward seeking reinstatement of all of the appropriations that Pawlenty unallotted.

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