To the Editor,

Minnesotans cannot afford Democrat leadership, and the most recent forecast is further proof that reckless over-spending is putting our state on an unsustainable path. This has been a theme for years, but it has really come to a boiling point with the recent February Forecast, which shows an unprecedented $6 billion deficit on the horizon for Minnesota. This represents a total failure of leadership by the Democrat Trifecta.

As I’m sure many remember, last November’s forecast painted a dark picture. After two years of over-spending by the Democrat trifecta, Minnesota was looking at a $5.1 billion deficit with a short-term surplus of $616 million. It’s shocking that in between November and February, that projected deficit increased by nearly $1 billion. Now we are left with a short-term surplus of just $456 million and a long-term deficit of $6 billion. It’s also important to note that this deficit will remain even if we do not spend a single penny this year. 

I want to remind folks of the timeline that got us here, because I think it’s important to be aware of how quickly Democrats broke our state budget. We went into 2023 with a historic surplus totaling close to $19 billion. Democrats spent nearly every bit of it in tandem with raising taxes by $10 billion. We then started 2024 with a significantly lower surplus of just $2.4 billion. Now at the start of 2025, we have a $6 billion deficit. The budget has quickly devolved and the ship is sinking – all because Democrats have an affinity for runaway spending at the taxpayers’ expense.

What is the one connecting factor? Democrat leadership. All of this has happened under Governor Walz and Democrats. Their costly policies have been a total failure, and they expect Minnesotans to foot the bill for their mismanagement. They have totally broken our state budget. 

To make matters worse, much of the costly measures they passed haven’t even gone into effect yet. Last month Governor Walz put forward his budget proposal, which involved shifting a number of costs onto our counties. This is absolutely a non-starter. Who in our state can afford higher taxes? Minnesota families should not be expected to pay higher property taxes so the government can pretend they’ve balanced a “responsible” budget.

Given the dire state of our budget, this is something we need to address as soon as possible. Unfortunately Democrats are operating without a sense of urgency. We have two months to balance a budget—our constitutionally-mandated adjournment date is May 19. Republicans want to get to work, but Democrats control the agenda and they have buried their heads in the sand on this issue. They truly believe they’ve passed a “responsible” budget, despite the $6 billion deficit showing otherwise.

The bottom line is Democrat policies have spent our state’s budget straight into the red. These policies and the costs they incur are driving people and businesses right out of our state. Minnesota is already ranked the 46th worst state when it comes to local tax burdens, and Democrats are making things even worse. In no world should Minnesotans be forced to foot the bill for the Democrat Deficit. Instead, we need to rein in the over-spending, make cuts where necessary, and eliminate the wasteful spending. Only then can we offset the historic Democrat Deficit and get Minnesota’s budget back on the right track.

Sen. Paul Utke,

Park Rapids, Minn.