February forecast shows $5.028 billion deficit

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter said the February budget forecast is showing more than a billion dollar improvement from a $6.2 billion budget deficit to a $5.028 billion deficit for the fiscal year 2012-2013 biennium.

The state will end the current 2011 fiscal year with a $663 million surplus, which is up from $400 million due to tapping into federal dollars to pay health care expenses for poor adults, and improved state tax collections.

Lawmakers and Gov. Dayton are still faced with a very large budget problem, and disagree on how to resolve it. Republican legislative leaders want to balance the budget through spending cuts, and Dayton is proposing raising approximately $4 billion in revenue through an income tax on the wealthy.

Gov. Dayton is in Washington D.C. today, but is expected to hold a news conference later this afternoon/evening when he returns.