MPR: Budget Balancer 2005: Key

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Key

This is the full text of all of the options presented in the Budget Balancer, along with the potential consequences if those options became law.

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Expenditures
K-12 Education
General Education
11,738,000,000.00 -$275 million	Impact:Your cut equals the average salary of 6,100 teachers. Firing these teachers would increase average class size from 24 to 27 kids. Instead, school districts may choose to close schools, get rid of sports and other extracurriculars, and push for higher property taxes.
11,926,000,000.00 -$87 million	Impact:You would change state law to allow school districts to contract with private companies for janitorial, transportation and maintenance services. This threatens the jobs of school support staff, but could reduce school costs by 10%.
12,013,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:The state would spend $4,601 per student, the same amount it has spent for the last 2 years. Schools would have to make new cuts, though, since salaries, supplies and other expenses have been rising with inflation. The average district would have to cut 5% more, so layoffs would likely continue.
12,305,000,000.00 +$292 million	Impact:You are raising the amount spent per student each year by $97, almost keeping pace with inflation. However, you are providing new money for the first time in two years. Schools may avoid some new cuts.
12,413,000,000.00 +$400 million	Impact:You are increasing education spending by $133 per student per year to keep up with inflation over the next 2 years. You could also devote $74 million for teacher incentive pay (one proposal on the table) which some say will improve teaching quality.
12,624,000,000.00 +$611 million	Impact:You have added enough to raise the amount spent per student by $250 a year, nearly double the rate of inflation. Schools could use this money to cover higher costs due to inflation plus hire 6,500 new teachers, reducing average class sizes from 24 students to 19.
12,991,000,000.00 +$978 million	Impact:You are boosting the amount spent per student by $400 per year. This could go to hire up to 14,500 new teachers and reduce average class sizes to 17 or be used for a variety of other initiatives to improve education. You have also dramatically increased the deficit.
Health and Human Services
State Health Care Assistance
6,838,000,000.00 -$694 million	Impact:Your cut would end state subsidized health insurance for 70,000 childless, single adults who are living below or near the poverty line. Many may skip preventive care and use the emergency room as a doctor's office. This will add to the estimated $330 million state hospitals spend annually on uncompensated care.
7,285,000,000.00 -$247 million	Impact:You are cutting 32,000 childless adults and hundreds of families from MinnesotaCare, and suspending a planned increase in county health care grants. This will end state health care support for thousands of low-income Minnesotans, and for hundreds of families (like a family of four making over $45,000 a year).
7,332,000,000.00 -$200 million	Impact:You cut is equivalent to putting a $5,000 cap on outpatient services for very low-income Minnesotans on General Assistance Medical Care. Many may not get treated for problems like cancer or they may stop treatments when they hit the cap. The state already caps services for Minnesotans with slightly higher incomes.
7,532,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. However, new treatments and prescription drugs keep pushing health care costs higher. With costs rising by 3.3% with inflation over the next two years, no additional spending means greater hardship for state health care recipients.
7,565,000,000.00 +$33 million	Impact:You have ended copays for all people on state health care programs. Currently, the poorest Minnesotans pay between $1 and $6 for some doctor's visits, eyeglasses and prescription drugs. Low-income people on MinnesotaCare pay between $3 and $25 for similar coverage.
7,601,000,000.00 +$69 million	Impact:You have lifted the $5,000 cap off MinnesotaCare outpatient benefits for single adults without children who make between $6,700 and $15,700. This helps them pay for services, like mental health care and some cancer treatments, that cost more than $5,000.
7,634,000,000.00 +$102 million	Impact:You have eliminated copays for people on state health care programs and you have lifted the $5,000 cap on MinnesotaCare outpatient services to ensure no patient has to stop treatment for ailments like mental illness or chronic disease.
Payments to Providers
1,010,000,000.00 -$90 million	Impact:You are limiting state coverage for care deemed ineffective and cutting payments to hospitals for treating patients in state health programs. Hospitals could lose up to $100 million in matching federal money, and pay $70 million to fill the gap between state payments for services and actual costs.
1,050,000,000.00 -$50 million	Impact:You've cut 5% from payments to hospitals for treating people on state health programs. This will add to the estimated $70 million a year hospitals already absorb because state payments are too low.
1,060,000,000.00 -$40 million	Impact:You are limiting state coverage for care deemed ineffective, like Oregon did in the early 1990s. This could save about 2% of state health care costs. Patients on state health care will be denied treatments deemed ineffective-like doctor's visits for the common cold, or life support for babies born with severe brain deformities.
1,100,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. But increasing demand for new services and rising prescription drug costs push expenses up. With costs projected to increase by 3.3% in the next two years due to inflation and budget cuts of 5% in 2003, providers will feel the pinch.
1,229,000,000.00 +$129 million	Impact:You are adding enough money to pay hospitals and other health care providers what they say it actually costs to take care of patients on state health programs. This may improve the finances of health care providers and encourage them to treat low-income people.
Aid to Local Government
Local Government Aid
2,872,000,000.00 -$89 million	Impact:According to the League of Minnesota Cities, cuts like yours may lead to long-term property tax increases in less well-off areas and reduced city services like police, fire, and public works. These cuts may also affect public safety or human services, which together account for 60% of county budgets.
2,921,000,000.00 -$40 million	Impact:You are cutting more than 3% of total aid to 100 suburban cities. Many of these cities will go further than they did to handle 12% cuts in 2003, by tapping budget reserves, leaving positions open, and delaying some public works projects.
2,961,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending on top of 17% cuts in 2003. But paving and policing streets depends on the price of concrete and the price of cops, both of which rise with inflation. Since the state expects costs to rise 3.3% in the next two years, this is actually a cut.
3,046,000,000.00 +$85 million	Impact:You have increased local government aid by 5%, restoring some of the cuts from 2003. Cities may be able to restore services that were cut and rehire some workers - like the 18 police and 44 firefighters laid off by Minneapolis in 2003.
3,330,000,000.00 +$369 million	Impact:Your addition restores all the funds cut in 2003 from aid to local government and boosted county aid by 5%. This may allow half of all Minnesota cities to restore cuts to police, fire and other services. This money could help reverse a 15-year trend toward lower state aid and higher property taxes.
Higher Education
MnSCU
1,165,000,000.00 -$61 million	Impact:Your cut reduces state funding for MnSCU by 5%. They may reduce generous health benefits to cut costs, but MnSCU could also consider increasing tuition 12% per year ($535 per student), cutting courses, laying off staff or even closing some campuses.
1,201,000,000.00 -$25 million	Impact:You have cut funds for enrollment increases, but have added money for new initiatives: $14 million for online learning programs and $3 million to plan a new Rochester campus. MnSCU may still hike tuition 10% per year ($424 per student) to pay for higher enrollment.
1,226,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:Though you are not cutting, MnSCU may still need to hike tuition 8% a year ($366 per student) to cover higher enrollment, inflation and previous budget cuts. MnSCU would not likely expand its online learning program or workforce training in areas like nursing where the state has labor shortages.
1,293,000,000.00 +$67 million	Impact:Your extra spending would help MnSCU hold down the rise in tuition to 4% a year ($178 per student), the smallest increase since 1999. And you would still provide enough to spend $16 million to train, for example, 440 registered nurses who can start filling some 2,000 existing vacancies.
1,356,000,000.00 +$130 million	Impact:You are giving MnSCU enough money to freeze tuition. You are also adding money for several initiatives. These include an online learning program and workforce development in high-demand fields like science and engineering, and health care.
University of Minnesota
1,080,000,000.00 -$94 million	Impact:You are denying funds state budget forecasters say the U needs to pay for increased enrollment and costs. The U may raise tuition up to 16.5% a year (nearly $1,400 per student) and continue to freeze faculty pay. Professor salaries at the U are already 25th in the nation among top research universities.
1,114,000,000.00 -$60 million	Impact:You are providing just over half of what state budget forecasters say the U needs to pay for increases in enrollment and costs. Or this money could go to new research initiatives to study genes and biosciences. Either way, the U may have to raise tuition by 13% a year, more than $1,000 per student per year.
1,174,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:By providing no change in funding, you will still force the U of M to cover rising costs due to inflation. The U may need to increase tuition 9% a year for the next two years ($740 per student).
1,221,000,000.00 +$47 million	Impact:You can cover inflation or insist this money go toward special projects, like a partnership with the Mayo Foundation-to study genes, cures for cancer, and heart disease-and research on new biotech products and food safety. The U may still hike tuition by 6% a year (almost $500 per student.)
1,232,000,000.00 +$58 million	Impact:You are adding enough money to cover rising costs, so the U of M won't have to raise tuition. You are also giving a break to students, who have absorbed double-digit tuition increases over the last few years.
1,307,000,000.00 +$133 million	Impact:Not only are you stopping the rise in tuition, but you are providing enough to fund many projects: a $15 million Mayo Foundation partnership to study genes and cures for cancer and heart disease; $24 million for research on new biotech products and food safety; and $13 million for undergraduate scholarships.
Aid for Low-Income Students
265,000,000.00 -$85 million	Impact:You are ending all financial aid for students attending private colleges, universities and trade schools. Plus, you're cutting grants to public school students by 5%. 24,000 private school students will lose an average of $2,400 per year. Another 47,000 public school students will lose $83 a year.
283,000,000.00 -$67 million	Impact:You are cutting all state financial aid for students attending the state's 81 private colleges, universities and trade schools. Trade schools offer training in a range of areas, including for acupuncture, hair styling, etc. 24,000 students will lose an average of about $2,400 in state aid.
332,000,000.00 -$18 million	Impact:Your cut could shave $80 off the average $2,400 grant low-income students can use to attend college or trade schools. Or you could choose to stop grants for 11,500 students whose families earn more than $50,000 a year. These cuts come at a time of rising tuition.
350,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. But you're also not adding money to help student aid keep up with inflation or tuition increases. Inflation is expected to increase by 3.3% in the next two years-making this, in reality, a cut.
378,000,000.00 +$28 million	Impact:You have chosen to restore cuts made in 2003 to the grant program for low-income students. This could help offset recent federal financial aid cuts, restore $200 to annual living expenses for all 72,000 grantees, and reinstate eligibility for fifth-year grants, helping 5,700 students.
395,000,000.00 +$45 million	Impact:You are raising annual grants for low-income students by $220 for college expenses and $200 for living expenses, helping them cover inflation and tuition increases. You would once again make fifth-year students eligible for financial aid, helping 5,700 students.
Criminal Justice
Courts
478,000,000.00 -$50 million	Impact:You are cutting the courts' budget by 10%. Judges' salaries and jobs are constitutionally protected, so these cuts will come from support staff. This may increase already substantial case backlogs, and make it harder for courts to handle an increasing number of meth-related crimes and lengthier trials for sex offenses.
528,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending on top of 2003's $15 million cut. But costs are expected to go up 3.3% in the next two years. Since the vast majority of the courts' budget goes to salaries and health costs and both of these rise faster than inflation, a zero-increase is really a budget cut.
543,000,000.00 +$15 million	Impact:By adding 3% to the courts, you have chosen to restore cuts from 2003. This will lighten the load of Minnesota's 275 state trial judges, who now handle almost 50% higher caseloads than judges in other states.
569,000,000.00 +$41 million	Impact:You are adding 8% to the courts-money that could support the investigation and prosecution of sex and meth offenders and gangs. This money also allows better community supervision of sex offenders, as recommended by the Legislative Auditor.
596,000,000.00 +$68 million	Impact:You are increasing court funding by 13%. This will help relieve the backload of cases, help the Supreme Court give staff a cost of living salary increase, and provide better civil legal services for the poor.
Public Defenders
101,000,000.00 -$10 million	Impact:Your 9% cut will likely lead to layoffs of 140 public defenders (a quarter of the total number), in addition to the 20 lost in 2003. These cuts could hurt poor defendants who don't have money to pay for a lawyer and increase the backlog of cases.
111,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending, but you also aren't helping reduce the average public defender's caseload, more than double the state recommendation. With costs due to inflation expected to rise 3.3% over the next two years, no budget increase functions as a budget cut.
118,000,000.00 +$7 million	Impact:By adding 6% to the public defenders' budget, you will help them keep pace with inflation and perhaps add a few staff. However, caseloads per defender are already double the state's recommendation and there is increasing pressure with new anti-meth laws and sex offender prosecution.
141,000,000.00 +$30 million	Impact:You are adding 27% to the public defense budget. This money could help relieve the substantial backlog of cases involving indigent defendants by allowing the Board to increase the number of lawyers, whose numbers have declined by almost 40, about 7%, since 2000.
Corrections
848,000,000.00 -$100 million	Impact:You would save 11% from corrections by releasing 1,500 non-violent drug offenders into probation and cutting prison programming. These savings may not last. As many as 30% of released prisoners return to prison. And cuts to prison programming could reduce success in reforming criminals.
888,000,000.00 -$60 million	Impact:Your 6% cut represents the savings gained by releasing 1,500 non-violent drug offenders from prison, and putting them on parole. These are people who committed drug-related crimes but did not use force or a dangerous weapon, did not seriously injure or kill anyone and did not have any prior convictions for violent crimes.
908,000,000.00 -$40 million	Impact:Your 4% cut reduces programs that keep prisoners occupied and prepares them to re-enter society, like education and chemical dependency programs. Minnesota prisons release about 6,000 inmates a year.
948,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. However, the state expects costs to increase 3.3% in the next two years, due to inflation, on top of a cut of 6% the state made to corrections in 2003. Rising salary costs for corrections officers, and for food and health care for inmates will mean having to cut or finding savings elsewhere.
974,000,000.00 +$26 million	Impact:Your added money will pay for the expected 1,400 additional prisoners in the next two years. It also adds $14 million in new funds to fight methamphetamine crimes, to treat convicted sex offenders for chemical dependency and mental illness, and to monitor them once released.
State Government and the Arts
State Agencies
479,000,000.00 -$81 million	Impact:You are cutting state agency and state officer budgets by up to 9%. You are also investing $13 million in the Department of Revenue to enforce tax collection, expecting to net $55 million in added revenue. You have saved enough to spend $11 million on National Guard bonuses.
505,000,000.00 -$55 million	Impact:This option seems to a win-win proposition. Some argue you can save money by investing $13 million in the Department of Revenue to improve its tax collection. With the added funds, they say, the state can collect $68 million more in taxes by finding scofflaws and mistakes on returns, for a net gain of $55 million.
537,000,000.00 -$23 million	Impact:You are cutting various state agencies an average of 9%. Be wary because cuts to the Department of Revenue may hurt tax collection. Some people think state agencies can save this much money by restructing or using technology to improve their efficiency. Others feel another cut to agencies would diminish their effectiveness.
546,000,000.00 -$14 million	Impact:You are cutting 2.5% from the budgets for state officials like the attorney general and the governor, and are taking leftover funds from the legislature. This may lead the legislature to cut back on research for proposed bills and efforts to keep the public informed on government actions.
560,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. However, due to inflation, costs are expected to rise 3.3% in the next two years and agencies were cut across the board in 2003. Agencies still have to find funds for pay increases, staff health care costs, and more pricey office supplies.
571,000,000.00 +$11 million	Impact:Your added money can provide Minnesota's National Guard forces with enlistment bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and improved facilities. This may help counteract recent declines in enlistment.
Arts and Culture
59,000,000.00 -$3 million	Impact:You are cutting the Minnesota Historical Society and Minnesota Arts Board by 5%. This adds to 2003 cuts of 32% to the Arts Board, and 17% to the Historical Society. These cuts may force layoffs at the Historical Society, and a reduction of Arts Board grants to artists across the state.
60,000,000.00 -$2 million	Impact:Your cuts could strip 6% from the Perpich Center for Arts Education's budget, and 3% from the Historical Society's. This may reduce programs that have helped two thirds of Minnesota's 354 school districts plan arts education. And it could hike fees for historical sites, affecting four million annual visitors.
62,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending on top of severe cuts in 2003. But the Historical Society has to heat and light historical sites and all arts agencies have staff who earn pay increases and health care. With these costs expected to rise 3.3% with inflation over the next two years, this option works like a budget cut.
64,000,000.00 +$2 million	Impact:Your addition could restore the funding the Minnesota Humanities Commission lost in 2003. This money could extend instruction in social studies and other subjects to almost 1,000 teachers. The U.S. Dept. of Education says improving teacher knowledge is one of the few measurable ways to increase academic performance.
70,000,000.00 +$8 million	Impact:Your money restores the cuts made in 2003 to the Minnesota Arts Board. The Board may restore arts education to schools, restore some grants to organizations like the Guthrie and the Winona Arts Center, and raise the average arts grant from its current $2,500.
71,000,000.00 +$9 million	Impact:You are restoring the money cut in 2003 from the Minnesota Historical Society. Restoring these funds could help keep historical sites and the History Center open longer hours, keep fees down, and perhaps bring back a few of the 85 full-time positions that were eliminated.
81,000,000.00 +$19 million	Impact:This increases state arts funding by a third, and restores all the funds the arts lost in the 2003 budget cuts. This will restore funding for the Minnesota Humanities Commission and help the Arts Board and Historical Society bring back programs, rehire staff, lower fees and increase grants to artists.
Other Areas
Environment and Conservation
210,000,000.00 -$20 million	Impact:You have cut 9% from the DNR and other conservation programs. This may force the DNR to curtail landfill cleanup, flood protection in the Minnesota River Basin, and water quality and cleanup programs. The DNR may also choose to raise fees for activities like cross-country skiing.
224,000,000.00 -$6 million	Impact:You have cut 3% by reducing anti-pollution activities. This cut means freezing funding for monitoring water quality. This will reduce water quality supervision statewide, especially near feedlots and factories, and will force the PCA to lay off staff or otherwise curtail programs.
230,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. But no change here will actually continue a four-year decline in environmental spending as employee health care and fuel costs for DNR vehicles rise with inflation. Inflation is expected to increase 3.3% in the next two years.
320,000,000.00 +$90 million	Impact:You are adding 39% to fund the state's Impaired Waters program. This is a program required by the federal government, but is not fully funded. The program identifies polluted waters, locates sources of pollution, and researches clean-up methods.
380,000,000.00 +$150 million	Impact:You are adding 65% to spending on the environment and conservation. This will help state parks return operating hours to what they were before 2001 and hire back park rangers. Water quality programs will be a high priority, as will grants to local communities to help with land-use planning.
Agriculture
38,000,000.00 -$34 million	Impact:You are ending the 13 cents a gallon state subsidy for ethanol production. Studies show larger plants could operate profitably without subsidies. But small-scale producers might not be able to. The Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture estimates the ethanol industry accounts for 5,300 jobs, and $1.3 billion in total economic impact.
55,000,000.00 -$17 million	Impact:You are halving state subsidies for ethanol production. 10% of Minnesota's farm families are involved in ethanol production. Studies show that most of Minnesota's 14 ethanol plants could operate profitably without the subsidy. Even so, this could affect the 2,564 people are employed directly or indirectly by ethanol plants.
72,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. But on top of cuts in 2003 topping $20 million, the agriculture budget will also be subject to expected inflation of 3.3% in the next two years. Inspection costs don't get any less expensive, so failing to match inflation costs means a budget cut.
80,000,000.00 +$8 million	Impact:Your added money could increase the Department of Agriculture's general fund budget by 11%. This could fund more food inspections to protect the food supply from natural and bioterrorism threats.
90,000,000.00 +$18 million	Impact:You are restoring the 2003 cut to the ethanol subsidy, raising it from 13 to 20 cents a gallon. This maintains the state's long-term commitment to increasing ethanol production and supporting the 10% of state farmers who invest in the industry. However, you are also increasing subsidies to an already profitable industry.
Economic Development
346,000,000.00 -$28 million	Impact:You are cutting the Explore Minnesota budget, aimed at increasing tourism. You are also eliminating service and work programs for 4,000 young Minnesotans, and cutting 60% from housing programs that serve an estimated 33,000 low-income families.
348,000,000.00 -$26 million	Impact:You are eliminating two programs that help up to 4,000 inner-city kids with school and work, and merging and cutting two others that help Minnesotans build new houses and fix up properties. Foundations and private companies may reduce $80 million in matching funding in light of the 60% reduction in housing programs.
374,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not cutting any spending. But with gasoline costs and consumption rising, the cost of the Commerce Dept's pump inspections won't be going down. After more than $20 million in budget cuts in 2003 and expected cost inflation of 3.3% in the next two years, no increase looks a lot like a budget cut.
Revenue
Income Taxes
Personal Income Tax
12,983,000,000.00 -$500 million	Impact:You have cut income taxes by 4%. Minnesota will collect the same proportion of personal income that Wisconsin does in income taxes. You have created a big budget hole, and cut the state's most progressive tax. But you may have made Minnesota more competitive with its neighbor to the east.
13,483,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not changing the state's personal income tax, 3rd highest in the nation.
13,773,000,000.00 +$290 million	Impact:You are adding a new tax bracket of 8.5% on married couples making over $145,000 or individuals earning more than $82,000. This would be on top of the current top bracket of 7.85% that currently affects individuals earning more than $65,530. This could discourage companies (and their CEOs) from locating in Minnesota.
14,423,000,000.00 +$940 million	Impact:You are raising income taxes halfway back to 1998 levels. This increases the tax rate by a third of a percent and could add to Minnesota's reputation as a high tax state. This is the only sizeable state tax that depends on the ability to pay, so increasing it makes the entire state tax system more progressive.
15,383,000,000.00 +$1.9 billion	Impact:You are rolling income taxes all the way back to 1998 levels, moving tax rates up about two thirds of a percent. This puts Minnesota ahead of all other states in income tax rankings. This will make the state's tax system more progressive, since this is the only sizeable state tax that depends on the taxpayer's ability to pay.
Corporate Income Tax
0.00 -$1.5 billion	Impact:You have chosen to repeal the corporate income tax. Minnesota will join Nevada, South Dakota, and Washington in eliminating this tax.
1,389,000,000.00 -$100 million	Impact:You have reformed corporate income taxes to remove property and payroll from the calculation. This will lower taxes for companies who own property or have employees in the state but sell outside the state (i.e. Cargill, Target, Best Buy). But out-of-state companies with a presence here could pay more.
1,489,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not changing the state's corporate income tax, 13th highest in the nation. However, the state does include inflation in its revenue forecast, in contrast to a 2002 law leaving inflation costs out of the expenditure column."
1,636,000,000.00 +$147 million	Impact:You are closing a loophole that has allowed some 2,000 Minnesota companies to pay tax on only 20% of foreign revenue, instead of the full amount. This will affect firms that have created "shell companies," but may also increase taxes for Minnesota companies with legitimate operations overseas.
1,789,000,000.00 +$300 million	Impact:You have raised the corporate tax rate by 2.5 percentage points to 12.3%. This increases the disparity between corporations and partnerships, who pay the lower personal income tax. This also makes Minnesota's corporate income tax the highest in the nation, although Iowa and North Dakota would be 2nd and 3rd.
Sales Taxes
Sales Tax
8,363,000,000.00 -$365 million	Impact:You are making the sales tax less regressive by extending the sales tax to clothing and an array of services (including automotive repairs, haircuts and newspaper subscriptions) and lowering the overall rate to 5.5%. A sales tax on clothing and services will cost the average person making $50,000 about $400 a year.
8,728,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not changing the state's sales tax, 23rd highest in the nation.
9,186,000,000.00 +$458 million	Impact:You are extending the sales tax to services including auto repair, haircuts, newspaper subscriptions and horses (15,000 horses are sold in the state a year). This may make the sales tax more regressive, and will add to Minnesota's reputation as a high-tax state.
9,478,000,000.00 +$750 million	Impact:You are applying a 6.5% sales tax to clothing. This brings Minnesota in line with all but three other states. A clothing sales tax would cost the average person making $50,000 about $150 a year. Fewer people may travel to the Mall of America to buy clothes.
Automobile Sales Tax
0.00 -$550 million	Impact:You are redirecting the entire car sales tax from the general fund to a dedicated transportation fund starting in FY2006. This more than doubles the deficit but helps ensure a stable source of transportation funding at a time of rapidly increasing road congestion.
286,000,000.00 -$264 million	Impact:You are doubling the MVST contribution to transit funding but creating a hole in the general fund. This could go toward reducing bus fares, creating rapid bus transit lanes, or building more light rail lines. The average time a metro resident loses to congestion more than doubled from 1992 to 2002.
550,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not providing any additional money to ease congestion, which costs Twin Cities residents an estimated $1 billion a year in lost time and fuel. Congestion costs tripled from 1992 to 2002.
906,000,000.00 +$356 million	Impact:You are raising license tab fees back to their 2001 levels. Gov. Ventura capped fees so someone who owns an $8,000 car pays the same annual fee as someone with a $30,000 car. You can dedicate this money to highways, use it to lower the deficit, or fund transit projects.
1,235,000,000.00 +$685 million	Impact:You are applying the 6.5% sales tax to gasoline, raising $685 million and adding about 14 cents to every gallon of gas. This money could support increased highway construction or transit. You could also use it to plug the deficit or increase spending in other areas like K-12 education.
One-Time Moves
Revenue Shifts
-1,000,000,000.00 -$1 billion	Impact:You are repaying the 2003 legislature's one-time grab from the tobacco endowment fund. This money can restore numerous tobacco prevention programs and other public health and medical education programs.
-192,000,000.00 -$192 million	Impact:You are repaying the Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) money the state took in 2003 to balance the budget. You can use the money to pay for health care for low-income Minnesotans, or to lower health care insurance and MinnesotaCare premiums, and lower taxes on health care providers.
-49,000,000.00 -$49 million	Impact:You are repaying the funds taken from the 21st Century Minerals Fund. This money was intended to help diversify the Iron Range's economic base.
0.00 +$0	Impact:You are not making any one-time revenue shifts. These shifts may help solve the current budget problem, but will leave a hole in the next budget.
35,000,000.00 +$35 million	Impact:You are making a range of one-time moves. These include raiding leftover money at the legislature, changing the tax filing period for partnerships and S-corporations, shifting cigarette taxes to wholesalers (rather than the shops that sell cigarettes), and raiding a surplus in the electrical inspections special fund.
75,000,000.00 +$75 million	Impact:You are having the state sell unclaimed properties within a year (instead giving people three years to claim property) and requiring people leasing cars to pay sales taxes up front. Folks will have less time to track down lost savings accounts funds or safe deposit box contents.
110,000,000.00 +$110 million	Impact:You are making several one-time moves. This includes raiding extra money at the legislature, changing the tax filing period for some companies, shifting cigarette taxes to wholesalers, and selling unclaimed properties within a year. Remember! This money will leave a hole in the next 2-year budget.
Payment Delays
0.00 +$0	Impact:You are not 'delaying' any payments.
50,000,000.00 +$50 million	Impact:You are delaying funding by two years to regional projects covered by Children and Community Services Act. This program serves victims and family members of people suffering from drug dependency, abuse, neglect, and poverty.
71,000,000.00 +$71 million	Impact:You have frozen rates the state pays to daycare providers that serve low-income Minnesotans for the 4th straight year. Your cuts may lead to fewer people offering childcare for low-income families and increase the shortage of affordable childcare.
121,000,000.00 +$121 million	Impact:You are delaying funding for projects that help people affected by drug abuse in their families and poverty. And you are freezing the rate the state pays to daycare providers who serve low-income Minnesotans. Childcare services help people hold jobs and stay off welfare.
Switch Funding Sources
0.00 +$0	Impact:You are not making any one-time revenue shifts. These shifts may help solve the current budget problem, but will leave a hole in the next budget.
15,000,000.00 +$15 million	Impact:You are making several one-time accounting changes, including: making state agencies pay the state for help managing pensions and investments, paying for alternative energy development with nuclear cask storage fees paid by Xcel Energy, and shifting funding for environmental protection to a special fund.
206,000,000.00 +$206 million	Impact:You are using the Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) to pay health costs for the poorest Minnesotans. This takes General Assistance Medical Care off the general fund budget, which health care providers and hospitals support through dedicated taxes. This shift creates a one-time windfall using a surplus in the HCAF.
221,000,000.00 +$221 million	Impact:You are making several one-time moves. These include charging state agencies for state pension and investment planning, and shifting fees for alternative energy development, environmental protection and state-sponsored health care. This is a creative approach that moves money around without cutting any spending.
Raid Reserves
-850,000,000.00 -$850 million	Impact:You are increasing budget reserves to 5% of state spending. The state finance commissioner recommends this. Wall Street bond houses may restore Minnesota's credit rating to where it was before the state emptied reserves in 2003. The state may regain the coveted AAA bond rating, making it cheaper to borrow money.
-75,000,000.00 -$75 million	Impact:You are setting aside $75 million to help the state cope with anticipated federal budget cuts over the next two years.
0.00 +$0	Impact:You are not raiding the state's $650 million reserve or $350 million 'checking' account.
350,000,000.00 +$350 million	Impact:You are raiding the state's cash flow account. This essentially closes the state's checking account. The state may be late in paying its bills and this could create hardship for others. Wall Street bond houses may lower Minnesota's debt rating, making it more expensive to borrow money.
650,000,000.00 +$650 million	Impact:You are raiding the state's budget reserve. Wall Street frowns on using this money to patch an ongoing budget deficit. Using these funds could trigger a drop in the state's credit rating, making it more expensive to borrow money for future projects.
1,003,000,000.00 +$1 billion	Impact:You are emptying the state's cash flow account and budget reserves. This will eliminate an important buffer against unexpected events or shortfalls. This will also put the state on bad terms with Wall Street firms and bond houses, which will downgrade the state's credit rating-making it more expensive to borrow money.
'Sin Taxes'
Tobacco Tax
296,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not changing the state's tobacco tax, 37th highest in the nation.
466,000,000.00 +$170 million	Impact:You are raising cigarette taxes 29 cents per pack to match Wisconsin, moving Minnesota up to 25th highest in the nation in cigarette taxes. This tax affects low-income folks more than others. Yet people making less than the national median income are four times as likely to quit because of higher prices.
816,000,000.00 +$520 million	Impact:You are raising cigarette taxes by $1 a pack, making Minnesota's the 9th highest nationally. An average pack of cigarettes will cost $4.30. The American Lung Assn. estimates this could reduce youth smoking by 20% and adult smoking by 5%. But it may spur smuggling from Wisconsin (where cigarette taxes are half as high).
Alcohol Taxes
134,000,000.00 -$120 million	Impact:You are ending the 2.5% sales tax surcharge on alcohol, scheduled to expire on Jan. 1, 2006. Drinks may be cheaper. But this tax is considered "regressive"-which means it affects the poor more than others.
254,000,000.00 +$0	Impact:You are not changing the state's alcohol taxes, which rank in the bottom third nationally for beer and wine and 7th for bar drinks."
297,000,000.00 +$43 million	Impact:You are raising the alcohol taxes by a penny a drink. This will make the tax 2.4 cents for a beer, 2.2 cents for wine, and 6.9 cents for bar drinks. Minnesota's alcohol taxes would move up in rank to 20th, 24th, and 6th highest in the nation respectively.
465,000,000.00 +$211 million	Impact:You are raising the alcohol taxes by a nickel a drink. This will make the tax 6.4 cents for beer, 6.2 cents for wine, and 10.9 cents for bar drinks. Minnesota's alcohol taxes would move up in rank to 4th, 5th, and 2nd highest in the nation respectively.
667,000,000.00 +$413 million	Impact:You are raising alcohol taxes by a dime a drink. The new tax rates would be: 11.4 cents for a beer, 11.2 cents for wine, and 15.9 cents for a bar drink. Minnesota's alcohol taxes would be the highest in the nation, and would affect low-income Minnesotans more than others.
Expand Gambling
0.00 +$0	Impact:You are not expanding gambling to make up for the state's budget deficit.
80,000,000.00 +$80 million	Impact:You are installing slot machines at Canterbury Park and the state will get a share of expected earnings. Research shows that gambling has numerous social costs, including increased addiction, domestic violence and crime. Some also don't like paying for essential state services with gambling money.
200,000,000.00 +$200 million	Impact:You are collecting a one-time fee from investors for opening a new metro-area casino. Unlike most existing ones, this casino will benefit northern tribes. Tribes have run casinos without sharing revenue for years, as compensation for historical inequities and broken treaties.
280,000,000.00 +$280 million	Impact:You are installing slot machines at Canterbury Park, and getting a one-time $200 million for a new, metro-area casino. Gambling money will play a large role in solving the deficit, raising questions about whether the state should encourage and operate casinos.
700,000,000.00 +$700 million	Impact:You are allowing bars and restaurants to install up to five video gambling machines. Only places that already have licenses to sell beer and liquor could install the machines. This will substantially expand gambling in the state and will likely spur increased gambling addiction.

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