Last year, Governor Dayton and our progressive leaders passed a responsibly balanced budget. This may sound like a small thing, but for years in Minnesota it never happened.

The GOP continually shifted money around and used gimmicks to make it look like Minnesota was out of the red. They even borrowed $700 million from public schools to make it look like Minnesota wasn’t in debt. The bottom line was that Minnesota had a deficit.

But today, thanks to an honestly balanced budget by Minnesota’s progressive leaders, that’s no longer the case. Minnesota has a projected $1.2 billion surplus in the bank.

This is good news. It shows that Minnesota is on the right track- no more gimmicks, shifts, deficits or balancing budgets on the backs of working Minnesotans. It is also a larger surplus than originally projected, meaning that our economy continues to grow.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter agrees. The Star Tribune writes:

Minnesota’s economy continues to outpace the nation, Schowalter said, and “there doesn’t seem to be any signs of that slowing down.”

But what makes this great news is that it comes after Gov. Dayton and progressive leaders made historic investments in education and strengthening the middle class, while also creating a more fair tax system. By asking the rich and the biggest corporations to pay their fair share, Minnesota is already doing better.

And that’s something we can all be proud of.