Minnesota
Minnesota budget surplus forecast at $2.4 billion heading into 2024
Minnesota’s budget surplus stable at $17.5 billion
Minnesota’s budget surplus was stable at a projected $17.5 billion, according to the latest numbers released on Monday. This projection includes more than $12 billion left over from the current two-year budget cycle because the state Legislature failed to agree on a grand bargain to spend much of it in 2022.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Minnesota’s projected budget remains at a surplus of more than $2 billion, according to a forecast analysis provided by state officials on Wednesday.
The current Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 surplus is projected to be $2.4 billion, an increase of $808 million from previous projections, but a decrease from a historic $17.6 billion surplus previously held.
Every two years, Minnesota politicians create a state budget, known as a biennium.
“Minnesota’s budget and economic outlook remains stable in the current biennium, but a significant structural imbalance constrains the budget outlook in FY 2026-27,” according to an announcement from the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Office.
Higher expected consumer spending and corporate profit growth raise the FY 2024-25 tax revenue forecast. However, higher expense estimates in Health and Human Services (HHS) and education funding raises total spending in FY 2024-2027, resulting in a negative structural balance in the next biennium, according to MMB.
The projected budget surplus will allow Democrats to continue to shape state priorities as the party deems necessary, having control of the House, Senate, and governor’s office for the first time in more than a decade.
Historic surplus decreases
In February 2023, Minnesota’s budget surplus was a projected $17.5 billion.
Democratic leaders and Gov. Tim Walz agreed on broad budget targets that added up to nearly $17.9 billion in new spending, including $3 billion for tax cuts.
The projection included more than $12 billion left from the current biennium due to the state Legislature failing to agree on how to spend much of it in 2022.
At the time, Republican leaders said the targets included too much spending and not enough tax relief.
“Today’s budget targets are a reflection of how Democrats have become all too comfortable with their one-party rule,” House Republican Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring, said in a statement in March.
In December 2022, the state’s projected budget surplus hit a record $17.6 billion.
Another record: Minnesota’s budget surplus hits $17.6 billion
Minnesota’s budget surplus has soared to a projected $17.6 billion, giving Democrats the ability to reshape the state budget as they take full control of the Capitol for the first time in a decade.