Legislative Update from Rep. Patti Anderson

Legislative Update

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Hopefully, you were able to spend some time with family and recharge after an eventful election.

This week was an exciting one at the Capitol. Minnesota's Management and Budget Office (MMB) released their annual November forecast on Wednesday. This forecast is primarily used by Legislators to guide spending decisions made over the next session.

This year, the forecast was troubling. As you can see in the photo, the spending spree of the last two years finally caught up with us. Minnesota is facing a projected $5.1 billion deficit over the next four years, which means that a tied legislature will need to make tough decisions on where to cut spending to keep our budget balanced.

Frankly, I think that starting 2023 with a record $18 billion surplus and ending up with a projected $5 billion deficit is reckless. I firmly believe that the solution to this is to cut wasteful spending, not raise taxes, and that's exactly what I'll fight for when session starts in January.

As for the Speakership, no decision has yet been made. The House is still tied at 67-67 (pending two outstanding court cases) and committees will be split 50-50 with co-chairs as I described in my last newsletter. The two caucuses will need to negotiate how the speakership power is allocated before session starts on January 14.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more updates before the historic 2025 Legislative Session.

Legislative Update

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