On Tuesday, Governor Tim Walz released his proposal for the upcoming two-year state budget. The governor’s $49.4 million budget proposal would be the largest budget in state history and represents an 8.1 percent increase over the previous state budget. In response, Senator Bill Weber (R-Luverne) issued the following statement:

“Unfortunately, the governor’s proposed budget is a plan that would disproportionately affect Greater Minnesota families. This budget would raise spending to unprecedented and unsustainable levels, costing Minnesotans more at nearly every turn. Governor Walz is proposing a gas tax increase that would make Minnesota’s gas tax the fourth highest in the nation and raise license tab fees and vehicle sales taxes at a time we can’t even get our vehicle registration system to function.

“With a budget surplus, tax and fee increases should be off the table – especially when Minnesota is already one of the highest-taxed states in the nation. As the Minnesota Senate continues to work on a responsible state budget proposal, we will do so in a way that addresses the needs of Minnesotans without creating new hardships on our citizens already facing record high taxes.”

Facts about Governor Walz’s budget proposal

• Increases state spending by 9% in one budget cycle, from $45,549 in 2018-19 (November 2018 forecast, page 12) to 49,471 in 2020-21 (Walz budget documents)
• Increases taxes on every Minnesotan by over $3 billion:
  • $1.3 billion gas tax increase
  • $991 million sick tax increase
  • $848 million in FY2020-21 through selective Minnesota tax conformity to the federal law
  • $74 million tax increase by clawing back bipartisan tax relief from 2017
• Ends permanent, bipartisan funding for roads and bridges (via sales taxes on auto parts) and replaces it by almost doubling the gas tax, a revenue source that declines each year starting in 2020. (MNDOT Transportation Funds Forecast November 2018, page 9)

Budget documents

Governor Walz’s budget recommendations

Senate Republicans respond to Governor Walz’s proposal

Senator Bill Weber, of Luverne, represents District 22, including Cottonwood, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, and Rock counties, in the Minnesota Senate. He serves as chair of the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy Committee.