The ideas started rolling in as soon as the surplus was announced.
Give it back to Minnesotans via tax breaks. Spend it on roads and bridges. Eliminate the tax on health care providers. Invest in affordable housing. Or rural broadband. Or public schools.
Minnesota appears likely to have an extra $1.3 billion in its two-year budget, state experts said Thursday at the big biannual budget forecast event.
Bam. Reporters' e-mail inboxes and social media feeds quickly swelled with the dashed dreams of yestersession.
The state teachers union Education Minnesota sent an e-mail saying the state should spend the money to train and retain school support staff, expand after-school services, increase the number of teachers of color or improve student mental health support.
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce President Doug Loon just offered one idea left on the cutting room floor in the last legislative session: "Joining the majority of other states that have fully conformed to the federal income tax business expensing rules."
The federal rules, which changed under President Donald Trump's 2017 tax bill, would allow farmers and small companies to write off certain property and equipment purchases within the first year. They also would raise the maximum deduction to $1 million.
Legislators tossed out a number of ideas in dueling DFL and GOP news conferences in the hours following the announced surplus, which was expected.