Not only is the Republican budget proposal cruel, draconian, illegal, and unsustainable, it’s not even balanced. The MNGOP has apparently decided it is going to completely ignore the fiscal notes produced by staff at Minnesota Management and Budget. As a result, their budget only appears balanced. In reality, it falls far short. Here are just a couple of examples.

• SF 755: the Senate GOP claims $36.6 million in savings, but a Fiscal Note shows just a $4.3 million savings. That’s a $32.3 million difference.
• SF 908: the Senate GOP claims a $46.2 million savings, but a Fiscal Note actually shows a $435,000 cost in the next biennium. Not only is that a difference of $46.64 million, but the GOP is claiming a savings when the experts say it will actually cost us money.

That’s just two examples. There are more like this. This Enron-style accounting could be absolutely disastrous. Imagine having a “balanced budget” pass, only to later find out we’re hundreds of millions of dollars short.

Governor Dayton sent the GOP leadership a letter yesterday laying out his terms for budget negotiations at the end of the session. In that letter, he insisted that they accept the official fiscal notes in their accounting:

…I will not begin final negotiations with you or your representatives, until I have been assured by you that you are willing to to accept the Departments of Management and Budget and Revenue as the official and final arbiters of our respective expenditure and revenue proposals and our final agreements. Nor will I begin final negotiations with you, until those two agencies have reviewed and concurred with you that your budget proposals and conference reports contain verifiable and accurate expenditure and revenue assumptions and projections.

Good for Governor Dayton. He’s absolutely right. How could there ever be an agreement on the budget if one side is using phony numbers?