After Budgets Comes Bonding: Explaining the Supplemental Budget Session [Source] Translate

The meeting discussed the current legislative session's focus on infrastructure, contrasting it with the previous session, which centered on balancing the budget. With the budget work largely completed, senators are now addressing the state's roadways, water systems, and electrical grids. Eric Nauman from Senate Council Research and Fiscal Analysis explained that Minnesota operates on a biennial budget, enacting a new budget in odd-numbered years and making adjustments in even-numbered years. For 2026, the legislature is not enacting a full budget but is making changes based on the latest budget forecast from Minnesota Management and Budget. The November 2025 forecast indicated a budget surplus of nearly $2.5 billion, which is $575 million more than previously estimated. This surplus will carry over into future planning years, helping to mitigate a projected negative balance of about $2 billion for the next biennium (fiscal years 28 and 29). The legislature has three options to address the negative balance: cut spending, raise revenue, or adopt a wait-and-see approach. There is uncertainty regarding how the legislature will tackle the current budget situation, but they have time to work on it, which may lead to fewer changes now benefiting future budgets. A key topic for the session is the capital investment bill, which focuses on funding for infrastructure projects like buildings, bridges, and roads. The governor has submitted a capital investment recommendation of $907 million, which Senator Sandy Pappas, chair of the Senate's Capital Investment Committee, described as modest compared to the $6.5 billion in requests from various state agencies, colleges, and local governments, highlighting a significant gap of about $5.6 billion.