Government Should Spend Only What it Takes In
The next state budget is projected to have another multi-billion dollar deficit due to out-of-control spending growth. In fact, revenues are expected to increase by 10 percent, with the deficit created by an expected 24-percent growth in spending.
That’s why Representative Zellers signed on to sponsor the Spending Accountability Amendment. This idea, introduced this year, would amend the Minnesota Constitution to limit state government spending to the actual amount of money collected in the previous budget.
“This amendment would really put reality back into the process,” Zellers said. “For too long, the budget process has made unrealistic spending promises that turn out to be unaffordable. The Spending Accountability Amendment would make the Legislature budget the same way families do, and I think that’s the responsible way to go.”
Zellers this year’s first-ever spending reduction is only a temporary reprieve. Next year spending is set to grow by billions of dollars.
“The way it works right now, government sets an amount of money it hopes to have and if that hope turns out to be inaccurate, it comes to taxpayers looking for more money. That’s backwards of how it should be,” Zellers said.
Under the Spending Accountability Amendment, if revenues exceed the previous budget, the extra money could be used in one of three ways: build up rainy day funds, which currently sit at $0; given back to the taxpayers; or spent on a one-time need, such as road construction. With this model, under the current budget forecast there would be a $2 billion surplus that could be used in such a way.
