A few months ago, the November 2023 Forecast was released. After an expensive legislative session, it confirmed exactly what we assumed: the spending is unsustainable and Minnesota is barreling towards a deficit.

Heading into 2023, Minnesota had a historic surplus of $17.6 billion to work with. Many of us assumed that would mean two things: investments in infrastructure and the tax relief Minnesota families have been asking for. Minnesotans have been over-taxed for far too long and that massive surplus was further proof of that. The surplus presented us with an opportunity to give money back to the Minnesotans who had paid into it. What we saw instead was out of control spending coupled with $10 billion in tax increases.

Now, as shown in the Forecast, Minnesota is looking at a $2.4 billion surplus, followed immediately by a $2.3 billion deficit. Some might try to claim that a surplus is a good sign, but when it’s followed by a nearly equal deficit, that signals an imbalance. Senate Republicans have tried to push for tax relief, and when Democrats made the same promise during the election season, there was a real hope that maybe it would happen—maybe families would finally see real relief that would make the cost of living an easier burden to bear. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

We are now looking at a long-term deficit that will likely grow year after year. Minnesota families have seen increases in housing, gas prices, grocery prices, and now, due to this news, they can likely expect higher taxes on the horizon. We must be incredibly mindful as we move forward – we need to focus on our reserves and work on prioritizing the needs of Minnesota families, versus growing government through out-of-control spending.

Luckily, we are heading into a bonding year, which is traditionally far less expensive than a budget year. Though we absolutely need to be mindful of Minnesota’s finances, we also have a lot of projects throughout the state that need our attention and support. We already passed multiple bonding bills last year that made needed investments across Minnesota. Projects in our area included parks, public spaces, the Washington County Heritage Center, road improvements, Highway 8, and more. We got a lot of great work done in last year’s bonding bills. Due to the historic investments we’ve made in bonding projects throughout the last few years, I’m hopeful that means we can rein in the spending a bit more for the upcoming session.

Looking ahead, we also have some other issues that need to be addressed including the housing shortage, funding for nursing homes, and lowering the tax burden in our state. Many of these problems have been at the forefront for years, and though some of them have even received “band-aid” solutions through legislation, families need long term solutions. We can’t ignore these issues any longer, which is exactly why it’s so important we get our state’s finances in order.

Minnesotans see the looming deficit and they are asking us to address it sooner rather than later. I am hopeful that we can take this opportunity to take a hard look at current spending, so we can be good stewards of taxpayer dollars as we move forward and focus on future priorities. One thing remains crystal clear: Minnesotans should not have to foot the bill for this costly one-party control.