Letter: More to budget work than you may know

• Magnus of Slayton

Don Davis/State Capitol Bureau Rep. Doug Magnus of Slayton discusses the agriculture budget during a Wednesday House committee meeting. The committee heard about 6.4 percent of budget cuts the governor proposes.

Talk about it

Next time you read about “budget slashing” by the Legislature, keep in mind that legislators have worked with a wide variety of groups to reform government and take a look at Minnesotans’ budget priorities:

* A constitutional core function of government, the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety budget maintains funding for the courts and Department of Corrections, and increases the public defenders’ budget.

* The Senate Education bill includes almost $1 billion in new money, including an increase of $50 each year in the per-pupil formula allowance, which was not projected to increase under current law. This moves toward more even-handed treatment of school districts.

* The Senate Health & Human Services bill increases spending 6 percent over the current budget.

* In Higher Education, the Senate protected grant and work-study programs, and capped tuition increases, protecting students over institutions.

* In the senate budget plan, Local Government Aid funding stays at the same level as in the last biennium.

We also passed bills to cut bloated state government, including the Legislature and constitutional officers’ budgets, and the state workforce. We are working to cut government bureaucracy that prevents businesses from succeeding and creating jobs. We’re also working to cut the taxes that burden citizens and make Minnesota less business friendly.

Tags: opinion, minnesota, politics, legislature, magnus