Leaders Agree on Supplemental Budget Targets

March 25, 2024

The agreement between Gov. Tim Walz and DFL leaders would add $477.5 million to the biennial budget enacted in 2023 and another $62.7 million to the next fiscal biennium.

Gov. Tim Walz and DFL majority caucus leaders released supplemental budget targets on March 22 that will guide spending initiatives finalized in the next several weeks. It adds $477.5 million in spending in the current biennium and the remainder would be spent in the fiscal year 2026-2027 biennium.

The agreement, which was signed by Gov. Walz, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul), and House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), comes on the heels of Gov. Walz’s supplemental budget proposal, which was released on March 18. 

The agreement is light on details and does not contain bill language or spreadsheets. Rather, it is a framework outlining budget targets for areas of spending. Committees will use the funds on priority issues identified by chairs and members.

The agreement does not include an anticipated capital investment bill. Gov. Walz released his capital investment proposal in January, but the capital investment committees in the House and Senate have not completed their work on each body’s respective packages.

Read about Gov. Walz’s capital investment plan.

As predicted, the agreed-upon supplemental budget is relatively fiscally constrained. Although Minnesota Management and Budget’s Feb. 29 announcement of a $3.7 billion budget surplus created optimism about the state’s fiscal condition, leaders are reluctant to pass new spending measures due to an anticipated structural imbalance in the next fiscal biennium.

Read about the state’s February budget and economic forecast.

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