On Thursday, the office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released their November economic forecast. The report, which details the state’s budget picture, projected a surplus of $1.544 billion for the 2020-2021 biennial budget, with a significant structural surplus moving forward through the 2022-23 biennium.

In addition, $491 million of the surplus for the current fiscal year was automatically transferred to Minnesota’s budget reserve, leaving the state’s rainy-day account at $2.075 billion, a record level.

In the last biennial budget, Republicans passed the largest tax relief package in nearly two decades, benefiting seniors, college graduates, Main Street businesses, and farmers.

“Today’s forecast paints a healthy picture of the state of Minnesota’s economy as it shows that Republican leadership has paid off,” said Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids). “When we kicked off our majority in the 2017 Republicans prioritized Minnesota’s middle class, cutting taxes, and implementing reforms to stimulate the state economy. As we did that, Democrats called out saying that tax cuts would only result in deficits and encourage little to no economic growth.  Fortunately, with today’s forecast, we can look back and say that those assumptions are wrong, as Minnesota has now collected $376 million more in revenue than expected in FY 2018. Now, as we head into our next biennium, Minnesotans can look forward optimistically knowing that the legislature can move forward and tackle our shared priorities without destruction of their bottom line.”