Americans for Prosperity-Minnesota Applauds Senate for Rejecting $1.5 Billion in Additional Debt

ST. PAUL, MN – Americans for Prosperity – Minnesota applauds members of the Minnesota Senate who on Thursday night rejected a borrowing bill that would have added $1.5 billion of debt on Minnesota taxpayers.

AFP-MN State Director praised the Senate members who stood against the bill, saying “Thank you to these members for their vote to return fiscal sanity to the Minnesota Senate. More lawmakers need to recognize, as they do, that the current rate of growth in debt is unsustainable and threatening to overburden Minnesota taxpayers. Legislators should remember they are borrowing taxpayers’ money, and be prudent in how they spend it.”

Minnesota is constitutionally required to have a balanced budget, yet currently has more than $11 billion in state bonds outstanding or authorized, nearly 2.5 times as much debt as Minnesota had in 2006. Even more concerning, debt service on these bonds is one of the fastest growing portions of the state budget, crowding out ongoing investment in other priorities like education, water infrastructure improvements and transportation projects.

Flohrs added, “A state borrowing proposal at any level should be focused on long-term improvements to core infrastructure with truly statewide significance and not crammed full of local pork projects. By any historical or objective standard, the Senate bill was simply too big, adding record levels of debt at a time when the state already has a budget surplus. The Senate needs to go back to the drawing board and put forward a realistic proposal that addresses critical infrastructure needs but doesn’t max out the state’s credit card.”

“Families and businesses have to manage their debt responsibly, and government should be held to the same standard.”

For further information or an interview, please contact Jason Flohrs at JFlohrs@AFPhq.org or (612) 247-0805.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) exists to recruit, educate, and mobilize citizens in support of the policies and goals of a free society at the local, state, and federal level, helping every American live their dream – especially the least fortunate. AFP has more than 2.8 million activists across the nation, a local infrastructure that includes 35 state chapters, and has received financial support from more than 100,000 Americans in all 50 states. For more information, visit http://www.AmericansForProsperity.org.