REGIONAL- After wrangling with what to do over last year’s $17.5 billion surplus, Minnesota legislators will have another round of haggling next session as the state will have about $860 million extra dollars to spend.
Most of last year’s record surplus was allocated last session, but Minnesota budget officials had projected $1.6 billion was left for the 2024 legislative session.
On Monday, as a result of more revenue from taxes and fees than what was forecasted, that surplus holdover grew to $2.42 billion, an $860 million increase and 50 percent larger than expected.
The extra funds will be added to the state’s surplus for the next budget cycle. It will be up to legislators to decide how the surplus will be allocated, likely through a supplemental budget bill or an anticipated capital investments bill. The final surplus amount won’t be announced until early December.