Although major small business priorities were not acted on throughout the legislative session, a restrained budget increase was achieved.
After a five-month legislative session, Minnesota
lawmakers passed a biennial budget that restrains spending, says NFIB/Minnesota
State Director Mike Hickey.
In 2016-17, general fund spending reached $41.8 billion, which is 5.2 percent increase
for the period and only a 2.6 percent increase on an annualized basis, which
Hickey calls the biggest win for business in the legislative season. It is the
third-smallest increase to the state’s budget since 1960. “When spending
increases dramatically, it usually leads to large increases in taxes,” Hickey
says. “Spending the whole $2 billion budget surplus would likely cause history
to repeat itself and lead to another large tax hike.”
The modest budget increase stands in stark contrast to the
previous budget. In 2013, Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposed budget
hit high-wage earners with close to $1 billion more in new income taxes, plus
additional sales taxes on expensive equipment repairs. The move was a response
to create revenue for a steeply increased budget. Fortunately, with the change
in power in the House, that did not happen again with this budget.
