1. The extra cash will turbocharge the 2020 legislative debate between DFL spending priorities and GOP calls for tax cuts.
2. It could fire up Gov. Tim Walz’s push for transportation funding, which was stymied last spring by the failure of his proposed 20-cent hike in the state’s fuel tax.
3. The $1.3 billion is what’s left after $284 million of the surplus was shifted to the state’s budget reserve, which is now full.
4. Watch for Republicans to argue that the surplus is the fruit of President Donald Trump’s federal tax cuts.
5. The $1.3 billion estimate could rise or fall depending on federal policy changes, trade agreements, inflation, health care expenses and other factors outside lawmakers’ control.
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