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1. They Can’t Spend What They Don’t Have
2. More Whining from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman
3. Put a Cap on Capitol Spending
4. It’s a Ghost Town along Northstar Corridor
5. Winners of the Stupid Stimulus Contest Announced!
1. They Can’t Spend What They Don’t Have
Thank goodness we have a provision for a balanced budget in the Minnesota Constitution. The requirement doesn’t stop legislators from racking up long-term debt but it does maintain some fiscal sanity.
To no one's surprise, last week's budget forecast again showed that once again Minnesota's state spending was expected to exceed anticipated revenues by more than $1 billion. Just five months into Minnesota's 24-month budget, it is projected that spending will exceed revenues by $1.2 billion, a 3.8 percent budget shortfall.
That may not sound like a lot of money compared to last session's $4.8 billion shortfall (which would have been $6.4 billion excluding federal stimulus dollars) but it signals the third time in three years that Minnesota will have a significant budget problem.
In the last two legislative sessions state lawmakers have sidestepped their budget-balancing duties by using one-time money or accounting shifts to cover the red ink; now it's time to face the music and stop spending money the state doesn't have.
To read more click here.
2. More Whining from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman
Just weeks after the Saint Paul City Council approved an $18.8 million plan to “beautify” the Central Corridor light-rail line with twin-style lanterns and more trees, St. Paul Mayor Coleman worked up the nerve to ask Governor Pawlenty for a special session in order to expedite a local government aid (LGA) payment to St. Paul. Governor Pawlenty flatly rejected the idea.
Hypocritical city council members bragged that they have “a way” to cover the costs of adding a station and greening up University Avenue but are now grappling with cuts to police, fire and snow removal due to Governor Pawlenty’s plan to scale back a planned post-Christmas LGA payment.
When did “beautifying” the Central Corridor become priority over public safety?
To read more click here.
3. Put a Cap on Capitol Spending
In an effort to force fiscal responsibility upon spend-happy legislators, supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment to restrict state government spending rallied Monday in the rotunda of the State Capitol. While the DFL Party said that the amendment would "devastate Minnesota,” others pointed to the projected $1.2 billion deficit as the real devastation if not dealt with via spending discipline.
Following the rally, the Senate Tax Committee heard testimony on the proposed amendment. Phil Krinkie, President of the Taxpayers League, championed the amendment saying, “Limiting state spending to actual revenue from the previous budget is just common sense money management.”
To read more click here.
4. It’s a Ghost Town along Northstar Corridor
Minnesota’s first commuter rail line has been up and running for three weeks now, but it has yet to spur any development along the route of the train.
Planners and community developers envisioned high-density areas of commercial property along the Northstar commuter rail line - but instead of restaurants, condos, and coffee shops dotting the landscape the rail line is stricken with vacant spaces.
In fact, three hundred acres of vacant agricultural land sit to the south of the Northstar Station in Big Lake. The city of Big Lake hasn't yet received any applications for new developments around the station. This is also the case for the cities of Elk River, Coon Rapids, Anoka and Fridley. This is a far cry from the promised economic development promoters hyped.
To read more click here.
5. And the Winners of the Stupid Stimulus Contest Are...
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Stupid Stimulus Contest! The Taxpayers League received an overwhelming number of entries – all highlighting the outrageous and egregious ways the federal government is spending tax dollars. The selection process was difficult because almost any federal stimulus spending could be labeled stupid.
But here are our top picks:
1st Place
Sent by: David Anderson
Stimulus Amount: $316,000
Project Description: To help preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector that are threatened by the current economic downturn.
Preserve jobs threatened by the economic downturn? The federal government must have overlooked the fact that the Minnesota State Arts Board already received a $21.65 million first-year appropriation from the arts and culture constitutional tax increase, combined with about $8.62 million from the general fund this year. That not only tripled the board's annual budget of recent years, but it also catapulted Minnesota to No. 2 in state government arts funding.
2nd Place
Syracuse University Sex Study
Sent by: Dan Nelson
Project Description: The National Institutes of Health awarded a $219,000 stimulus grant for psychology professor Michael Carey to study the "hookups" of 500 freshmen women. The description pointed out that there appears to be an increase in hookups, defined as sexual encounters between adolescent partners who have no expectation of romantic commitment. But there is little scientific investigation of it. The research will measure the prevalence of hookups in the first year of college and explore the mental and physical health consequences of it.
How does this project create jobs?
Sent by: Jeff Hagen
Project Description: The Town of Union, New York, was surprised when it was notified that it would be receiving a $578,661 stimulus grant to prevent homelessness for several reasons. First, the town never applied for the money, second, it does not have a homeless problem and third, the city has no method to distribute the funds. The money came from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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