Legislature Releases Budget Targets, Goes on Break until April 2

March 28, 2024

On March 22, House and Senate leaders, and Gov. Tim Walz, agreed to overall budget targets that add $477.5 million to the 2024-2025 biennial budget and another $62.7 million for the next fiscal biennium.

These targets set the limits on spending for each finance committee. The target for the Health and Human Services Committee is just under $5 million of the new spending. 

The comparatively low health target may hinder some MMA priorities, including prior authorization, which will likely have a fiscal impact larger than $5 million. To pass something this legislative session, bill authors will likely need to consider revisions to lower the cost of their bills to the state. 

Budget targets do not detail what will or will not be passed. Instead, they set the framework to outline overall areas of spending. Committees will develop their final budget bills to allocate the target amount on priority issues as identified by chairs and committee members. 

Although Minnesota Management and Budget forecasted a $3.7 billion budget surplus in February, state leaders have been reluctant to pass any new large spending measures due to an anticipated structural imbalance in future years. 

On March 27, the Legislature started a short Easter break. It will reconvene on April 2 when most of the work will focus on developing and passing the supplemental budget bills. .