Gov. Tim Walz just insulted all Minnesota taxpayers when he revealed his plan to spend the majority of the $10 billion surplus, only giving a small fraction of it back to taxpayers who were overcharged. Walz’s plan would give checks of “$350 to married couples (earning up to $273,470)” and “$175 for single taxpayers (earning up to $164,400).” This is a small fraction of what is owed.
A budget surplus happens when the government overtaxes its citizens. Similar to a waitress overcharging a patron, the money should be promptly returned. Big government Democrats and Republicans generally look at surpluses as a way to spend more money on bloated government.
Think the Republican-controlled Senate will want to give it all back? Think again. I’ve watched several budget cycles of our state government running billions of dollars in surplus funds, but they’ve never once put out a plan to give it back. Under Sen. Paul Gazelka’s direction, who now wants to be your governor, those surpluses were spent or rolled over to the next fiscal years. They failed us — that’s why we have such a large surplus now.
Despite media reports that state the budget surplus is $7.7 billion, the real figure when accounting for the reserve funds is more than $10 billion. With 2.5 million taxpayers in the state, the government should be giving back checks of $4,000 to everyone who pays in.
My organization, Action 4 Liberty, calls on Senate Republicans to unify behind giving back the entire surplus. Not one penny should be spent on Walz’s bloated government agencies or to help Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm continue eroding our liberties.
We have a “Give it Back” petition on our website.
Jake Duesenberg
Jake Duesenberg is the president of Action 4 Liberty.
