Sen. Dan Hall: Mid-90s, Today Bare Striking Similarities

The following is a column from Sen. Dan Hall, D-District 56. 

The Governor’s State of the State Address 

Last week I used this newsletter to write about the uncanny similarities that exist between the middle 1990s and the present day. Our political leadership, the federal government’s plans to reduce appropriations to the states, and, most importantly, our state’s recurring budget deficits are all similar to the 1990s. After pointing to these unhappy similarities, I reflected on the principles of the historic Brandl-Weber report and their promise of a happier future.

Governor Dayton’s State of the State address gave us additional reasons to consider Brandl-Weber’s principles. Consider the following quotes: 

“For nearly a decade, higher education’s share of the state budget has been shrinking….” 

“…Our state spends ...less on higher education in the current biennium, than we did....” 

The themes and findings of the quotations are similar–but one set was written for Governor Arne Carlson and the other was taken from Governor Mark Dayton’s State of the State. 

Eighteen years having passed, neither decade could find sufficient funds to meet the higher education system’s demands: In both instances, tuition rose. 

Public bureaucracies like higher education systems, Brandl-Weber reminds us, lack built-in incentives to improve or save money. They are secure in the knowledge that they will continue to receive the lion’s share of their government appropriations. Brandl-Weber’s response: “Funds should go to citizens, not bureaucracies.” Empower higher education consumers, and higher education systems will respond. Governor Dayton’s higher education budget by contrast would give two-thirds of the new money directly to public institutions. 

Whether he recognizes it or not, Governor Dayton and his budget are not facing a unique historic challenge. The historic challenge that faces Governor Dayton is whether he can see and lead the legislature to a better solution. 

The Brandl-Weber report was delivered to Governor Carlson and Minnesota’s Democrat-controlled legislature right as the state’s economic forecasts unexpectedly and dramatically improved. Having dodged the deficit bullet for the moment, the legislature went on spending without having to exercise the political courage needed to implement Brandl-Weber. 

Governor Dayton expressed great hope that the tax increases and other components of his budget “would lift us out of this miserable deficit-to-deficit cycle.” Is Governor Dayton then a better Democrat than Governor Perpich? Governor Perpich raised taxes, too, and Governor Arne Carlson inherited his budget deficits. 

The seeds of truth and hope are buried within Governor Dayton’s own State of the State. Here is what it says “…we’re 15th among states in taxes….”; “…we rank 11th highest in per capita income….” 

Rather than raising our taxes, the Governor and the legislature should embrace the principles of the Brandl-Weber report and lead “…our state forward. Not back to failed ideologies of the past….Not remaining locked into what might have worked in the past; but is faltering now, and will likely fail in the future.”[sic]