Lawmakers head into 2017 with $1.4B budget surplus
Published 9:30 am Friday, December 2, 2016
ST. PAUL — Minnesota lawmakers will have a $1.4 billion budget surplus to spread around next year.
It’s an unexpected bit of good l news for most state officials who weren’t expecting such a sizable sum of extra cash. Minnesota budget officials released the figure Friday morning and were expected to address questions later in the day.
Much of that money comes from nearly $730 million the Legislature left unspent this year due to stalled tax and transportation bills. But that sum shrinks after some cash gets put into in a rainy day fund.
Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republicans who control the Legislature in 2017 will set a two-year budget. Both sides will weigh in with their plans later Friday.
A February budget update will finalize the size of the surplus.