A Budget-Breaking Democrat Deficit
By Senator Steve Green

The February Forecast recently came out, and it was exactly what we expected – an even higher number than what we saw in the November Forecast. For those who don’t remember, the November Forecast showed a $5.1 billion deficit, which was already disappointing, but not surprising. It also showed a short-term surplus of $616 million. It was terrible news, and somehow last week, things got worse.

The February Forecast somehow painted an even bleaker picture. Minnesota is now looking at a $6 billion deficit with a short-term surplus of $456 million. Democrats squandered a historic $18 billion surplus in two years, raised taxes by $10 billion, and it still wasn’t enough. Make no mistake, this deficit is fueled by a “spend now, think later” mentality and Democrats refuse to take accountability for the role they’ve played in spending our budget straight into the red. In fact, we’re in such bad shape that if we spend any part of our minimal “surplus,” our deficit will immediately worsen. It’s time for us to make some hard decisions.

It’s also troubling to note that annual spending is outpacing revenue growth by 80%. Spending has outpaced income 2-to-1. This is outrageous. Democrats just can’t help themselves.

Amongst all of this, Democrats have still maintained that their budgeting has been “responsible” and Trump is the real culprit. I know Minnesotans are smart enough to know that even though Democrats are blaming Trump, no one is to blame but Democrat leadership and the Walz administration. We knew we were going to have a $5 billion deficit before the President even took office. Minnesotans know we had an $18 billion surplus, and they know it’s now gone thanks to Democrat leadership.

In fact, President Trump has taken the last few months to dig into the fraud and waste happening at the federal level. Given the dire state of our budget, we should welcome that same mindset here in Minnesota. Again, an entire $18 billion surplus was totally squandered away in two years. And now we have a historic $6 billion deficit that Democrats expect YOU to pay for. This is wrong. Minnesotans should not be left footing the bill for Democrats’ total mismanagement of our state.

This $6 billion deficit is proof that Democrats cannot balance a budget. No amount of money is ever enough. If we do not spend a single cent this year, that deficit still remains. And because we’re outspending what is coming it, for all practical purposes, we are already in a deficit. Our state budget is in trouble because of poor leadership. We need to fix this before it’s too late.