http://minnesotabudgetbites.org So you know...what we know...when we know it Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:21:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, now we know what we are facing...lots and lots of red ink. Minnesota Management and Budget (formerly known as the Department of Finance) announced the bad news at a press conference late this morning. For the current biennium (FY 2008-09, which ends June 30, 2009) the deficit is $426 million (that's ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/12/04/deficits-426-million-now-48-billion-soon-and-46-billion-later/ A report published today by Citizens for Tax Justice, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group, gives us the latest figures from the IRS on how many deaths in Minnesota led to estate tax liability: In 2007, just 221 estates in Minnesota owed any estate tax. Doesn't sound like too many? That's ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/12/03/new-irs-statistics-show-a-teeny-tiny-number-of-minnesotans-owe-the-estate-tax/ The latest news is all about recession. Yep, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced yesterday that the nation has been in a recession since December 2007. Over the coming months, we are going to be pointing out how this recession is different for Minnesota than the 2001 recession. One difference is unemployment. Last recession, ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/12/02/us-in-recession-minnesota-is-one-of-ten-states-with-a-50-increase-in-unemployment-since-2006/ The Minnesota Budget Project team was out at a conference during the week of November 17, and one thing I was very sorry to miss was the meeting of the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy on Friday, November 21. Minnesota Public Radio and other news outlets have reported that ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/12/01/predictions-of-a-4-billion-state-budget-deficit/ Thanks to the economic downturn, states across the country are drowning in red ink - and now we have a not-very-well-publicized ruling from the IRS that could add to our fiscal woes. Up until this point, tax law prevented companies from using a newly-purchased company's tax losses to write off their ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/11/26/irs-ruling-may-push-state-budgets-further-into-the-red/ A few weeks ago I attended the second-to-last meeting of the Minnesota Budget Trends Study Commission. To recap, this commission, established by the state legislature (not to be confused with the Governor's 21st Century Tax Reform Commission), is made up of state budget experts and is tasked with recommending how we can ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/11/20/a-partial-preview-of-the-budget-trends-study-commission-findings/ It isn't the highest-profile outcome of the recent elections, but North Dakotans overwhelmingly rejected Measure 2, which would have cut their state personal income tax by 50% and cut the corporate income tax by 15%, with an estimated two-year cost of $420 million. The Bismarck Tribune reports that about 70% ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/11/07/north-dakotans-reject-tax-cutting-ballot-measure/ Today the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report on how, in each of the 42 states that have a state income tax, the income tax impacts the very poor - those households with incomes near or below the poverty line. In 2007, the federal poverty line for ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/10/29/new-report-out-on-taxes-paid-by-low-income-families/ I've previously written about the process for developing the Governor's budget and the instructions that state agencies received as they put together budget options for the Governor to consider. In mid-October, cabinet-level agencies received new instructions. Noting the significant risk of a larger deficit in the November 2008 Forecast, state agencies ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/10/28/governor-asks-state-agencies-to-propose-5-cuts/ More on the Governor's tax reform commission! Remember the commission asked for public comments on how to improve Minnesota's business competitiveness? The Minnesota Budget Project, Growth & Justice, and others have had the opportunity to testify before the commission. Now the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a national nonprofit tax research group, ... http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2008/10/22/research-group-recommends-against-new-tax-incentives-for-businesses/