COLD SRING, Minn. – Republicans in the Legislature are still moaning about how Democrats in the 2023 state Legislature spent down the state’s record $17.5 billion revenue surplus. Much of surplus was paid back to taxpayers as rebates. Republicans, a minority in the Legislature, instead favored adjusting future tax rates to pare down the surplus gradually. The majority Democrats also increased taxes for expanded spending mostly on health and schools. Now, according to the state Budget office, state spending may outpace revenue growth next biennium, although not so much as to run up a deficit. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, a Cold Spring Republican, issued a news release that her party was right in 2023 Legislature to oppose new spending. “We started the year with a record $17.5 billion surplus, giving Democrats the chance to pass meaningful tax relief and help make Minnesotans’ lives more affordable,” Semuth said. “Instead, Democrats squandered the unique opportunity they had to address the economic pressures Minnesotans are facing and, in turn, are now leading the state off a fiscal cliff.”
Demuth. A Republican. House Minority leader. First elected in 2018. From District 13-A in Stearns County west of St. Cloud.
Verbatim
Demuth: “Democrats took the entire surplus and raised an additional $10 billion in taxes so they could go on a spending spree, increasing the state budget by an unsustainable 40%. Democrats’ reckless spending has now set us on the path to have a budget deficit in the coming years. This could have been avoided if Democrats had even an ounce of fiscal responsibility. Democrats put their insatiable appetite for spending ahead of the needs of Minnesotans and we will all be paying for their fiscal insanity for years to come.”