Daily Herald editorial

Minnesota schools will have to keep waiting for millions in tax dollars that the state collected but has refused to pay out, because the governor this week vetoed a bill that would have used reserve funds to pay a portion of the state’s commitment to education. While the veto staked out the governor’s position on Republican-led legislation, it certainly did the state no favors.

The bill in question would have used about two-thirds of the state’s budget reserve to repay $430 million of the funds that the state had once promised to school districts but which were ultimately never disbursed due to funding crises. Gov. Mark Dayton, in vetoing the bill, said that he thought it was fiscally irresponsible to use the reserve. We think the governor is wrong. It is, in fact, irresponsible to stock taxpayers’ money in a reserve fund while public schools starve for funds. Indeed, it’s questionable how wise it is to sequester taxpayers’ money in state accounts at all while so many taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet. Taxes are, after all, supposed to be collected as a means to serving the people.

The governor also made it clear that he was disappointed that the Legislature had not adopted his budget proposals, which had provided an alternate plan for getting schools the money they are owed. We hope the governor’s pique over not getting his way earlier did not lead him to a bad decision this week — cutting off the state’s nose to spite its face, so to speak.

Budget reserves are difficult to justify under any circumstances. Putting them ahead of K-12 education is simply ridiculous. The best place to invest resources is in Minnesota’s young people.