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Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 • Page 11
Walz seeks gas tax, education spending hikes in 1st budget
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)
— Gov. Tim Walz pro-
posed a $49 billion “Bud-
get for One Minnesota”
Feb. 19 that raises the state
gas tax 20 cents to pay
for road and bridge im-
provements and includes
signifi cant increases in
spending on education.
In his fi rst budget pro-
posal, the new Demo-
cratic governor called
for $733 million in new
spending on pre-kinder-
garten through 12th grade
education over the next
two years. That includes
a $523 million boost in
state aid for school dis-
tricts by increasing the
basic per-pupil funding
formula by 5 percent over
two years.
Much of the talk
around the Capitol this
session has been about
bipartisan cooperation.
Walz now faces GOP
opposition, especially in
the Senate where Repub-
licans have a three-vote
majority.
Democrats
who lead the House were
broadly supportive. Walz
said Republicans should
recognize that his bud-
get refl ects the campaign
promises that got him
elected by a wide margin.
“I think they will come
to the table, have a spirited
debate, and we’ll reach a
compromise, and we will
invest in a Minnesota that
works for everyone,” Walz
said at a news conference.
But Republican lead-
ers said they oppose the
governor’s plan. It comes
amid a $1.5 billion budget
surplus, though that’s ex-
pected to shrink a bit in
the next revenue forecast
later this month.
“This fi rst budget is the
kind of budget you get
when you promise every-
one everything,” Senate
Majority Leader Paul
Gazelka said. House Mi-
nority Leader Kurt Daudt
dubbed it “One Expensive
Minnesota.”
On health care, Walz
proposed cutting premi-
ums on the state health
insurance exchange MN-
sure by 20 percent and
creating a tax credit to
ensure that Minnesotans
who buy health insurance
on the individual market
spend no more than 10
percent of their income
on health care. He would
also create a statewide
public buy-in program
called ONECare Minne-
sota to expand coverage
choices on the individual
market.
For rural Minnesota,
Walz proposed $61 mil-
lion in additional aid
to cities and counties, a
$70 million “moonshot”
to ensure that all house-
holds in rural Minnesota
have high-speed internet
access, and more money
to help rural communi-
ties cope with child care
shortages.
“This budget puts for-
ward the single great-
est investment in greater
Minnesota in the state’s
history,” he said.
Including the gas tax in-
crease, higher vehicle reg-
istration fees and vehicle
sales taxes, and a 1/8 cent
Twin Cities metro sales
tax increase, the budget
would generate $1.9 bil-
lion annually that would
be reserved for roads,
bridges and mass tran-
sit. The money would let
Walz return $460 million
to the general fund that
now goes to transporta-
tion funding so that the
money can be spent on
education instead.
Walz’s budget also
presumes that lawmakers
will prevent the automatic
expiration of a 2 percent
tax on health care pro-
viders, which funds pro-
grams that include the
MinnesotaCare
health
plan for the working poor.
The governor said letting
it expire would create a
nearly $1 billion defi cit by
2023. But the Republican
leaders framed that as a
tax increase.
His budget would also
raise taxes as the state
syncs its tax code with the
2017 federal tax overhaul,
by conforming to federal
provisions on business
taxes. He said the money
would enable cutting tax-
es on farmers and small
businesses by over $200
million, expand a tax cred-
it for nearly 47,000 lower-
income working families
by an average of $227 per
month, and make Social
Security benefi ts tax-free
for 56 percent of Minne-
sota seniors and lower for
many others.
Walz plans to release
details next week of a
$1.27 billion public con-
struction borrowing bill.
It would include $300 mil-
lion for higher education
split between the Minne-
sota State and University
of Minnesota systems.
Minnesota is the only
state currently where
Republicans control one
chamber and Democrats
control the other, but the
state had divided govern-
ment to some degree dur-
ing six of previous Gov.
Mark Dayton’s eight
years.
“Every budget in divid-
ed government is diffi cult
because we come from
two very different points
of view, and at the very
end we have to come to-
gether and fi gure it out,”
Gazelka said.
Walz needs GOP help to deliver on agenda for rural Minnesota
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)
— Gov. Tim Walz’s fi rst
budget contains lots of
things that leaders from
outside the Twin Cities
area have been seeking —
more money for schools,
local governments, high-
ways and rural broadband
to name just a few.
But the new Demo-
cratic governor’s chances
of delivering on them will
depend on whether he
can fi nd enough support
among GOP senators,
who come mostly from
outside the Twin Cities
metro area and generally
oppose the tax propos-
als that would fund his
spending initiatives, such
as a 20-cent gas tax hike.
Senate Republicans ex-
panded their narrow ma-
jority to three votes with
a special election win this
month, gaining a little ex-
tra cushion for standing
fi rm.
Senate Majority Leader
Paul Gazelka said Feb. 20
that he doesn’t think he’ll
have trouble keeping his
caucus united against tax
increases, even though
Walz’s budget includes
many proposals that
could help their districts.
Even if the fi nal forecast
on the budget surplus
comes in next week low-
er than the $1.5 billion
projected in November,
he said that’ll be enough
for a “good budget that
meets the needs of all of
Minnesota” without rais-
ing taxes.
“We’re going to fi ght to
say, ‘Let’s live within the
resources we have,’” he
said.
Still, Gazelka said the
governor’s proposals for
expanding rural broad-
band, making schools saf-
er, and increasing state aid
to cities and counties are
areas where Republicans
and Democrats can fi nd
some common ground.
Democratic House Ma-
jority Ryan Winkler
counted some of the
same issues as opportuni-
ties, but said his caucus is
likely to back Walz on the
gas tax, which would raise
a lot of money for roads
and bridges in a part of
the state that often feels
shortchanged compared
with the Twin Cities.
“I don’t know that the
(BRIAN PETERSON/STAR TRIBUNE VIA AP)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a press conference Feb. 19 in St. Paul, Minn. Walz has proposed a $49 billion budget that includes
a 20-cent hike in the state’s gasoline tax along with signifi cant increases in aid to local school districts.
Senate will ever like it,
but everybody has to give
something for us to put
a budget together by the
end of session,” Winkler
said.
Bradley Peterson, ex-
ecutive director of the
Coalition of Greater
Minnesota Cities, called
Walz’s budget “tremen-
dously positive for greater
Minnesota.” He said he’s
hopeful that rural Repub-
lican lawmakers will take
a close look.
The budget Walz un-
veiled Tuesday would
spend nearly $49.5 bil-
lion over the next two
years, an increase of just
See Walz , Page 12