Walz proposes more cuts, seeks one-time aid for avian influenza and police training

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Gov. Tim Walz proposed $160 million in additional cuts from numerous state programs as part of a revised budget that he released Friday, adjusting for the recent downtick in available money.
The additional cuts would buy the state more savings in the budget two years out, which is projected to have a deficit without shifts in money coming into the state or budget cuts.
The proposal would limit year-over-year growth rates in Medicaid waivers. It also would reduce state funding to private schools and includes a 5 percent reduction in special education transportation costs.
But it also would make one-time payments to combat avian influenza and fund police training. Walz said the trims could put the state in a better position down the road.
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“By addressing the budget challenges we face today, we’re setting Minnesota up for long-term success and protecting the resources necessary to make Minnesota the best state to live, work, and raise a family,” Walz said in a news release.
The budget is the Legislature's top priority this year and it will have to get some buy-in from Republicans. While Democrats control the Senate, the House this week became split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
GOP leaders in the House said the proposed cuts didn’t go far enough in the face of a projected $6 billion shortfall in four years.
“There is a lot of work still to be done if this is where Democrats are starting,” House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and two other top Republicans said in a statement.
A budget should be finalized before the Legislature adjourns on May 19. If lawmakers can’t pass one by July, they’ll risk a state government shutdown.
Among the largest recommended cuts included in the revised budget are:
Eliminating the special education charter adjustment and long-term facilities maintenance for charter schools, saving the state almost $41 million in the next budget.
Decreasing funding for the drug evaluation and classification program at the Office of Traffic Safety by $3 million per year. Budget materials said the state isn’t seeing a demand for all of the current funding level and is proposing to cut, at least for now.
The plan would cut $16.4 million in the next budget from greater Minnesota transit and delay funding for passenger rail until later.
The plan reduces a program known as Payment in Lieu of Taxes by $16.4 million, which is meant to offset local losses in property taxes that isn’t assessed on public lands.