Democrats who control the Minnesota Senate said Thursday they had slightly adjusted spending goals for the legislative session, as they shift a bit more money into public schools, and environmental, economic development and agricultural programs.
Senate DFLers initially released "budget targets" at the end of March, but a release Thursday from Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said a few of those decisions had been tweaked. Such targets are a measure of how much state money the Senate's DFL majority wants to put into different sectors of state government spending.
Most notably, Senate DFLers shifted an additional $11.5 million into their total public school allotment. Another $11.5 million in additional funds is shifted into budgets for environmental, economic development and agricultural programs.
That money is being moved from two budget areas: $14 million from State Departments and Veterans, and another $9 million from an obscure spending category known as "Debt Service, Capital Projects and Other."
Budget targets from the Senate DFL and House GOP are vastly different, with details being filled in this week and next as legislative committees assemble budget omnibus bills. Dayton's spending proposal generally hews much more closely to the Senate DFL, though differences remain.
