To the Editor,

As I’m sure folks have seen by now, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) recently presented the state budget forecast, which paints a bleak picture for the financial future of our state: Minnesota is heading towards a $5.4 billion deficit. A few years ago, we were first made aware of this deficit—it’s not shocking news. However, what is shocking is that under the Walz Administration and Democrats, spending continues to outpace revenue. But that is just one piece of the puzzle… there have also been higher taxes, slow economic growth, and a never-ending boatload of fraud. All of these are making the state of our finances worse by the year.

According to MMB, the state will see a small, short-term surplus totaling $2.465 billion for 2026-27, followed by the $5.4 billion deficit in 2028-29. That may seem like ok news, but it’s really not when you look at the big picture. A few years ago, our state had a $19 billion surplus before accounting for inflation. Not only did the Democrat trifecta blow through the entirety of that, they also passed $10 billion in tax hikes. In doing so, they failed to make wise investments that would show financial returns. Those tax hikes are why we have a small surplus for the next biennium, but they are not enough to sustain our state’s long-term finances. I worry that means Democrats are going to continue the “spend more, tax more” mentality next session. Minnesotans cannot afford that.

Slow economic growth is another challenge. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce recently released its Business Benchmarks Report, which ranked Minnesota 38th  with 1% GDP per capita annual growth, 40th  for labor force growth, and 41 st  in net domestic migration. Between 2019 and 2024, key economic statistics slowed to nearly stagnant or negative levels, reversing previous trends, and impacting the state’s overall economic climate. Minnesota is falling behind on every metric that counts, and raising taxes year after year doesn’t help things, it just puts an additional financial strain on Minnesota families.

Increased spending on health care also negatively affects revenues, which is notable because our state has seen a significant amount of fraud in our health care service programs. This does a complete disservice to our most vulnerable citizens who rely on the programs the most. And this is just one small piece of fraud—we’re seeing it elsewhere as well. Between Feeding Our Future, autism centers, commercial driver’s licenses, and housing stability services, it seems like the fraud has burrowed deep.

Every dollar going to these fraudsters is a dollar taken out of our revenues and away from taxpayers. Minnesotans are tired of the fraud, and they’re tired of footing the bill for Governor Walz’s mismanagement of it. This fraud is going to have a lasting impact on our state and its economy unless we can get things back on track.

When we first heard of this deficit, the proposed solution from the Walz Administration was to shift costs onto counties. I want to remind folks that a move like that would just take the burden off the state government —it would amount to no relief for you. If the state government “cuts” spending by shifting taxes, you will still be paying those taxes at a local level. And considering many of our counties and locals are already dealing with mandates forced upon them by the trifecta, they’re being put in a bad spot. This is not a real solution.

I’m very concerned with the state of our budget. The forecast paints a picture we simply cannot ignore. We need to provide Minnesota families with relief—they can’t afford higher taxes to offset the continued runaway spending Democrats like to engage in. More importantly, we have got to stop the fraud… It’s costing us dearly. Addressing this deficit needs to be the top priority in this upcoming legislative session—the future of our state depends on it.

Sen. Paul Utke,

Park Rapids, Minn.