Posted on 02/02/2005 1:24:48 PM PST by Rakkasan1
About 40 percent of the money the state spends is parked in "special funds," hidden from the scrutiny of taxpayers and legislators alike, according to a new analysis by the Minnesota Center for Public Finance Research. The center, which is the research arm of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, said in its analysis that while the funds are legal, they are not subject to the same level of public debate as the state's general fund and, unlike other state accounts, are allowed to accumulate reserves from year to year. "Forty cents of every dollar of state revenue collected is spent without taxpayer scrutiny," the report says. But state Finance Commissioner Peggy Ingison said that "just isn't true." Among the dedicated funds the report counts are some of the largest in the state: the trunk highway fund; the Health Care Access Fund, which pays for MinnesotaCare; and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust, which pays for environmental projects.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
huh?
I was reading the report last night, or at least glancing at it. It is quite long.
http://www.naiopmn.org/pdfs/publications/MCPFR_Hidden_Funds_full.pdf
Some mis-information in the Star Trib. Many congress members are aware how those funds and accounts work. But still there are a lot of them.
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