As a GOP governor on his way out of office and probably headed for a 2012 presidential campaign, Governor Tim Pawlenty seems to have made it his myopic mission to avoid “raising taxes.” (Forcing the elderly, low-income citizens and those with disabilities to pick up the tab doesn’t count as raising taxes, just rearranging them, apparently.) Yet in a state like Minnesota, where our Medicare system is already 30% more efficient with government funds than other parts of the U.S., and our K-12 education system is one of the strongest in the nation, “cutting funding” doesn’t sound good either.
So, Pawlenty has infamized “unallotment.” Here’s how it’s looking so far:
K-12 Education $1.771 Billion
Higher Education $100 Million
Local Gov’t Aids $366.7 Million
HHS $236 Million
State Gov’t $33 Million
Revenues $168 Million
TOTAL $2.675 Billion
(For a full list of proposed cuts–oops, I mean “unallotments”–click here)
Yes, this is for the 2010-2011 biennium. No, that doesn’t mean cuts don’t begin until then. They start July 1. Nice one, Jackass. When you run for president, don’t expect to carry Minnesota.
