Issue Position: Paying Back the School Shifts

Issue Position

Billions of dollars have been borrowed from our schools. This debt needs to be paid back honestly. The Republican majority created this debt with accounting gimmicks, and it appears that they want to "pay back" this debt with more accounting gimmicks. Senate Republicans have introduced legislation (S.F. 2492) that would begin to pay back the billions they borrowed from our schools to end last year's government shutdown. While the Republican senate authors have yet to clarify where they will find the money to pay for this proposal, a similar bill that passed in the House would pile on even more debt by recklessly borrowing from the state's "rainy day" fund, shifting funds away from established Health and Human Services programs. We all agree that we must pay back our schools, but we shouldn't rob Health and Human Services programs to do it. There is a projected $1.1 billion deficit, and the state owes over $2.5 billion to our schools. In 2011 alone, Minnesota schools had to borrow over $500 million just to keep the doors open. Our schools will have to pay back this $500 million with interest. I support Senate Democrats as they offer the "Pay Back Our Kids Act," which would pay back what was borrowed from our schools by closing tax loopholes on multi-national corporations hiding money overseas. This is a straight forward and honest solution to paying back this debt owed our schools. It does not take funding from other vital state programs. Republicans continue to protect tax loopholes of multinational corporations while they jeopardize the financial security of our schools. It is time for new leadership.

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