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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Legislative leaders want new budget office

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Legislation introduced today in the Minnesota House and Senate would create a new nonpartisan state government office to analyze financial matters.

The proposed Legislative Budget Office would work with state departments to provide lawmakers with information on the fiscal impact of proposed bills. That role is currently performed by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB), which used to be known as the state Finance Department.

House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, are sponsoring the measure. Daudt said the Legislature should take care of its own fiscal notes and not depend on the executive branch.

“We shouldn’t have to rely on them for numbers on our bills,” Daudt said. “I’m not even suggesting there has been adjustment of those numbers on bills they don’t like, but the potential exists.”

House Republicans disputed an MMB fiscal note last week that showed an unexpected cost for their top education policy bill, but Daudt denied that issue was the reason for his bill.

House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said he thinks the current system works well. Thissen said he’s concerned that lawmakers could end up arguing over competing sets of financial numbers.

“That is what led us down the path of getting to a shutdown in 2011,” Thissen said. “We couldn’t agree on the underlying numbers.”