Minnesota policymakers received a bit of unexpected good news today when the latest budget forecast revealed a surplus of $876 million. As late as yesterday, most observers were predicting a deficit of as much as $1 billion. State law requires that all of the surplus be used to replenish reserve funds, so it’s unlikely that any of last summer’s budget cuts will be restored. And the good times are not back by any means. According to the forecast, Minnesota will have a deficit of at least $1.3 billion in the next biennium. I’d like to think that this surplus will give lawmakers some breathing room to consider permanent solutions to our fiscal instability, but that almost certainly won’t happen. Instead, this is a temporary cease-fire in the ongoing battle to define the scope of state government. In the meantime, the Vikings’ chances of receiving some level of public funding for a new stadium have probably improved slightly.
