ST. PAUL – State officials issued a new economic forecast for Minnesota on Monday, projecting a $17.5 billion surplus for the new biennium.
The bottom-line surplus figure remains in line with the last full forecast, issued in early December. State Rep. Matt Bliss, R-Pennington, said the report signals state revenue continues to grow because this forecast factored for inflation for the first time in decades.
“The state is collecting far more tax dollars than it needs, and we need to address this ongoing imbalance,” Bliss said. “It’s not right for the state to be swimming in a huge pot of surplus revenue, especially as people are dealing with higher prices across the board. Our top priorities this session should be to provide immediate relief – starting with fully eliminating the state tax on Social Security – while also making corrections to stop our state from making massive over-collections like this in the future. There is no reason for our state to have almost $18 billion more from the taxpayers than our budget necessitates.”
Just hours after receiving the updated economic forecast, House Republicans on Monday sought to fast-track legislation fully eliminating the state tax on Social Security, a move which House Democrats blocked in a floor vote.
Overall, revenue tabulations for the current forecast continued to surpass previous projections for individual income taxes ($565 million) and corporate taxes ($125 million). Sales taxes were down $26 million.
The new $17.5 billion surplus figure will serve as the official framework as the Legislature works to establish a new two-year state budget this session before adjourning in late May.
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