Letter: She left out a very large number

In her recent letter explaining the state budget, State Rep. Julie Bunn (D-56A) left out a very large number: $8,000,000,000.

Yes. $8 billion.

When Julie Bunn took office in January 2007, Minnesota was operating with a $2.2 billion budget surplus. By the end of her first term the state of Minnesota was faced with a $4.85 billion budget deficit for the 2009-2010 biennium.

That, of course, does not include the $426 million we were short for the end of 2007-2008 budget cycle.

That’s an almost $8 billion turnaround that I find shocking and absolutely appalling.

Why is Rep. Bunn not telling us the whole budget truth?

I would speculate it has something to do with the fact that in 2007 she voted, not only to spend the entire surplus, but also to increase state government spending by an additional $3 billion.

Not bad for only her first year in office.

Instead of the fiscal responsibility Rep. Bunn promised us when she ran for office, she chose to ignore the issue of over spending and voted, rather, to deplete the state’s budget reserve.

Not exactly a forward-thinking, or fiscally sound, solution.

I would like Rep. Bunn and her colleagues at the State Capitol to tell us the whole truth about what they are doing with our money and stop glossing over their role in causing the massive budget deficit.

Steve Ellenwood

Woodbury

Tags: opinion, letter, ellenwood, bunn, budget, surplus, deficit