Daily Herald editorial

Some Minnesota leaders have enjoyed talking about the good news that the state government will have $323 million more during this budget cycle than was originally expected. By and large, that money has been referred to as a “surplus.” We hope that few Minnesotans will be taken in by that language, which ignores a very ugly budget trick that lawmakers pulled to deal with a major shortfall — diverting funds from K-12 education.

After refilling the state’s reserve coffers, the remaining $300 million-plus must be paid to Minnesota public school districts from whom lawmakers have previously diverted $2.4 billion in aid payments. The decision to divert that aid, which would otherwise be used to educate Minnesota’s children, was one of many last-ditch efforts lawmakers made last year to juggle state budget books into balance. That trick allowed lawmakers to brag about balancing the budget, but only because they didn’t really balance it. Now that there’s a bit of a windfall, some lawmakers are talking about how well their budget plan worked, a ridiculous thing to say. A plan hasn’t “worked” if it will still leave schools more than $2 billion short of what they are owed.

The good news in this week’s budget announcement is that state revenue is up because the economy has improved a bit. But we hope Minnesotans won’t let politicians confuse them by labeling this favorable change a “surplus.” There won’t be a surplus until K-12 education is fully funded.